John Locke in AP US Government

What Jefferson borrowed from the Second Treatise in 1776

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence with help from Adams and Franklin. Its second paragraph reads like a compressed version of Locke. People have "unalienable Rights," governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed," and when a government becomes destructive of those ends, "it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it."

Each piece maps onto a Lockean idea you'll need by name:

• Natural rights: rights you hold before any government exists. Locke listed life, liberty, and property. Jefferson wrote "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
• Social contract: people give up some freedom to a government in exchange for protection of their rights.
• Consent of the governed: a government's authority comes from the people. That idea is the root of popular sovereignty.
• Right of revolution: if the government breaks the contract, the people can replace it.

The long list of grievances against King George III that follows is the Declaration's evidence that the contract had been broken. Locke supplied the theory, and the grievances apply it to Britain.

Why a Lockean government still needs checks and balances

Locke matters in Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy, and especially in Topic 1.6: Principles of American Government. The question there is how to build a government strong enough to protect rights but limited enough that it can't take them away.

Locke supplies the starting assumption. Government is a trust that its holders can abuse, so its power has to be limited. The Constitution puts that limit into practice by giving Congress, the president, and the courts separate powers and letting each branch restrain the others. In Federalist No. 51, Madison argues that "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition," so no branch or majority can grab too much power.

Locke's remedy for an abusive government was revolution. The Constitution builds in legal remedies instead. The House can impeach an official for "high Crimes and Misdemeanors," and the Senate can remove that official by convicting at trial.

The House impeached Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, but the Senate acquitted both. A House committee approved articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon, who resigned before a full House vote. None of these cases ended in a presidential removal, but they show constitutional checks operating inside the system.

If you explain that link (Locke's worry about abused power, answered by checks the Constitution designs), you're doing the reasoning Topic 1.6 asks for.

Locke, Montesquieu, or Hobbes: matching the idea to the thinker

The usual mix-up is crediting Locke with the three-branch design. That idea comes from Baron de Montesquieu, who argued for dividing legislative, executive, and judicial power in The Spirit of the Laws (1748). If a question asks which thinker most influenced separation of powers, the answer is Montesquieu.

Thomas Hobbes is the other neighbor. In Leviathan (1651), Hobbes described a state of nature without government as violent chaos, so he concluded people need a powerful sovereign. Locke thought people in a state of nature already have rights under natural law. They form government to protect those rights better, which is why Locke's government is limited and Hobbes's is not.

A quick sort helps. Rights, consent, and the right to overthrow a bad government point to Locke. Three branches point to Montesquieu. Chaos without government points to Hobbes. Also, "pursuit of happiness" is Jefferson's wording. Locke's list ended with property.

Using Locke's ideas in the Argument Essay and text-based questions

A text-based multiple-choice stimulus might be an excerpt saying governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, with Locke's name nowhere on it. The question could ask which democratic ideal it reflects or which founding document shares its reasoning. Read for the clue words: unalienable, consent, alter or abolish.

In the Argument Essay (Question 4), you need a defensible thesis backed by evidence from foundational documents. Locke's treatise isn't one of those documents, but the Declaration of Independence is a required foundational document. So cite the Declaration (or the Constitution, or Federalist No. 51) as your evidence, and use Locke's ideas in your reasoning to explain why that evidence supports your claim.

A strong response quotes or paraphrases a specific line, such as the consent clause, and ties it to a principle like limited government or popular sovereignty. It then answers an opposing view with a real rebuttal. Name-dropping Locke without connecting him to a document earns little.