Who believed that all people are born free and equal, with rights to life, liberty, and property?

Who believed that all people are born free and equal, with rights to life, liberty, and property?

• A. John Locke
• B. Hobbes
• C. Galileo Galilei
• D. Baron de Montesquieu

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is natural rights—the belief that certain rights belong to people by virtue of being human, and that governments exist to protect those rights. John Locke argued that all people are born free and equal and possess rights to life, liberty, and property. He held that these rights are inherent and cannot be justly taken away without consent, and that legitimate government derives its authority from the consent of the governed to safeguard these rights. If a government fails to protect them or violates them, people have the right to resist or change the government. This view helped shape later liberal thought and constitutional ideas about individual rights and limited government. Other thinkers fit different parts of the broader conversation but not this core claim: Hobbes argued for a strong sovereign to avoid a life of perpetual insecurity; Montesquieu focused on how to structure government with checks and balances; Galileo was a scientist whose work touched on science and religion rather than political rights.

The idea being tested is natural rights—the belief that certain rights belong to people by virtue of being human, and that governments exist to protect those rights. John Locke argued that all people are born free and equal and possess rights to life, liberty, and property. He held that these rights are inherent and cannot be justly taken away without consent, and that legitimate government derives its authority from the consent of the governed to safeguard these rights. If a government fails to protect them or violates them, people have the right to resist or change the government. This view helped shape later liberal thought and constitutional ideas about individual rights and limited government.

Other thinkers fit different parts of the broader conversation but not this core claim: Hobbes argued for a strong sovereign to avoid a life of perpetual insecurity; Montesquieu focused on how to structure government with checks and balances; Galileo was a scientist whose work touched on science and religion rather than political rights.