John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding established the foundations of empiricism by arguing that the human mind is a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate) at birth. His Two Treatises of Government argued that political authority derives from the consent of the governed and that individuals possess natural rights to 'life, liberty, and property.' His ideas on religious tolerance and the social contract were major influences on the Enlightenment and the American Declaration of Independence. His work remains the fundamental basis for modern liberal democracy and empirical science.