Who was John Locke?

John Locke was a major political philosopher of the Age of
Enlightmentment.  He is best known today (at least in the United States) because his
thoughts and writings were major influences on the founders of the United States.  For
example, his ideas are pretty much repeated word for word in the Declaration of
Independence -- the part where Jefferson talks about the self-evident truths about
government and what it is created for.

Locke was an
Englishman who was born in 1632, long before the Revolution that his ideas helped to
start.  His best known works are probably his Two Treatises on
Government.  He is one of the major thinkers associated with the idea of
government that is based on a social compact.