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Birth
John Locke was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrighton, Somerset, England ("John Locke Biography"). His father was John Locke and his mother was Agnes Keene. His father worked as a lawyer and a small landowner and he fought on the Parliament side during the English Civil War in the 1640's ("John Locke"). -
Rhode Island Establishment (World Event)
In 1636, Roger Williams arrives in what is today known as Rhode Island. He establishes a settlement here with twelve "loving friends and neighbors". He came and established Rhode Island after he was kicked out of the Massachusetts colony for religious reasons (Smitha). -
Building of the Taj Mahal (World Event)
In 1642, India was angry because its wealth was not being invested in commerce as much as they wanted to. As a result, the Mughal emperor, Jahan, has the Taj Mahal built. He builds it for one of his wives as well (Smitha). -
Violence in China (World Event)
In China in 1644, rebels overthrow the Ming Emperor Chongzhen. A Manchu army takes power in Beijing. All Ming supporters the were in China flee to Taiwan and the Manchu Qing begins its rule in China which lasts into the 20th century (Smitha). -
Education
John Locke was a student at Christ Church in Oxford. He focused on learning the standard curriculum of logic, metaphysics, and classics which eventually shaped the philosophy he believed in and shared with others later in his life. While in school, Locke also studied medicine and was an associate of Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, and other Oxford scientists ("John Locke"). He graduated Oxford's University in 1656 ("John Locke Biography"). -
Discovery of Cells (World Event)
In 1665, scientists start to use microscopes more extensively than before. A scientist named Robert Hooke observes cork and plants under a microscope and sees what he calls cells. These cells look like little circles to him under the microscope and this discovery leads to the cell theory (Smitha). -
John Locke's Relationship With the Earl of Shaftesbury
Locke met Anthony Ashley Cooper in 1666 and he later became the First Earl of Shaftesbury. They first started to become friends and one year later Locke became the physician of Shaftesbury's household. Later that year Locke supervised a liver operation that saved his friends life ("John Locke"). -
King Philip's War (World Event)
In 1676, Metacom, also known as King Philip and leader of the Wampanoag Indians, was trying to keep peace with the colonists in the 13 colonies. He was forced to start a war against the colonists because the colonists kept expanding into the Indian's land. Metacom and the Wampanoag Indians end up losing the war to the colonists. Metacom's wife and son are sold as slaves and shipped to Bermuda and he is killed as a result of the war (Smitha). -
John Locke's Exile from England
Locke was forced to leave England in 1683. This exile was due to his failed assassination attempt of King Charles and his brother. His plan of assassination was later called the Rye House Plot ("John Locke Biography"). A year later he was allowed to enter back into England after the Glorious Revolution had placed William III on the throne ("John Locke"). -
Isaac Newton's New Discoveries (World Event)
In 1686, Isaac Newton his book called "Principia" to the Royal Society. He is replacing people's ideas of the magic of gods with an understanding of gravity, inertia, physical force, and counter force. These laws that Newton made and discovered are going to stand as a basis of understanding for centuries to come (Smitha). -
Essay Concerning Human Understanding
In 1689, John Locke wrote an " Essay Concerning Human Understanding." This essay outlined the theory of human knowledge, identity, and self hood. In Locke's perspective, knowledge wasn't the discovery of anything either innate or outside of the individual, but simply accumulations of facts from experiences. He suggested an approach of rigorous methods of experimental science to attain more important experiences than basic ones ("John Locke"). -
Three Letters Concerning Toleration
In 1689, John Locke started writing three " Letters Concerning Toleration." In these letters, Locke suggested that government should respect freedom of religion of the people except when a belief was a threat to public order. Atheists and Catholics were excluded from his scheme. He wrote that governments were not in the position to decide which religion was correct to believe in. That was the people's job to do. These letters instilled in people new ways at looking at things ("John Locke"). -
The “Two Treatises of Government”
In 1690, John Locke wrote the book, "Two Treatises of Government." He wrote this book during his years of working by Shaftesbury's side. In this book, he said that societies form governments by mutual agreement and rejected the divine right of kings. As a result of what the book said, if a king loses the consent of the governed, the society can remove him ("John Locke"). This books stirred waves in England and later formed the American and French Revolutions ("John Locke Biography"). -
Thoughts Concerning Education Book
In 1693, John Locke wrote the book, " Some Thoughts Concerning Education." In this book, he argued for a broadened syllabus and better treatment of students in school systems. His ideas influenced Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his writing of the novel " Emile" which was published in 1762. This book helped spread the philosophy in which Locke hoped everyone would live live by ("John Locke"). -
Death
On October 28, 1704, John Locke died in Essex in England. He resided in Essex for the last decade of his life ("John Locke Biography"). He was in a fellow philosophers house, Lady Damaris Cudworth Masham, as she read to him from the Psalms. He died when he was 72 years old ("John Locke"). -
Locke's Influence on the Declaration of independence
In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed. Although it was signed way after John Locke's death, Thomas Jefferson was deeply influenced by Locke's philosophy. When Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, he used John Locke's ideas of natural rights that all people should have. These natural rights written in the document were the freedom to life, liberty, and property ("Foundations of American Government").
