This Day in Law History

On this day, August 29th, John Locke the legal philosopher was born in 1632, in Wrington, England.

Considered one of the greatest legal minds of his age, Locke authored, among other documents, The Social Contract. This treatise gave great impetus to the idea that laws to preserve the right to own and maintain property were the keystone to Western Civilization.

Alexander Hamilton said of Locke: “He gave us the basis of all property laws in the United States.”

Also on this date, in 1957, Congress passed the very first civil rights Act since 1875. This legislation created the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the Commission on Civil Rights.