What parts of government and ways of thinking can be traced to John Locke?

The Declaration of Independence and Constitution were both heavily influence by the writings of john Locke. Locke is also responsible for giving us an intimate relationship between private property and individual freedom. Locke was one of the first philosophy to try to establish how property was derived. Simply put, is that private property arises when man mixes his labor with nature.

Locke is also known for representing small government and individual sovereignty and making a good case for natural law. That man has certain rights such as life, liberty, and property that neither the government or majority can strip away.

It is unfortunate that we have steered away from a Lockean form of government towards a Hobbesian Leviathan.