John Locke Drafts Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina Protecting Slavery (1669)

John Locke, later celebrated as a philosopher of liberty and natural rights, drafted the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina in 1669 for the Lords Proprietors. Article 110 stated: 'Every Freeman of Carolina shall have absolute Power and Authority over his Negro Slaves.' Locke was also a direct investor in the Royal African Company. His authorship of a foundational slavery document while developing his theories of natural rights illustrates the philosophical contradictions at the heart of Enlightenment liberalism — and the degree to which 'freedom' was constructed as a racial category from its inception in Anglo-American thought.