Written during a period of increasing opposition to the restored English monarchy and published anonymously in 1689, the Second Treatise of Government outlines Locke's ideas for a more civilized society based on natural rights and contract theory. It contains Locke's central ideas on rights, government, revolution and theory of private property, which has influenced law and government for over two centuries. This is an unabridged edition of Second Treatise of Government with the original nineteen chapters and 243 sections and preface by the author.

John Locke (1632–1704) was an english philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism". His writings influenced Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries.