The Black Death wiped out a third of Europe’s population.
Thomas Jefferson ranked Locke, along with Locke’s compatriot Algernon Sidney, as the most important thinkers on liberty. Locke helped inspire Thomas Paine<span>’s radical ideas about revolution. Locke fired up George Mason. From Locke, James Madison drew his most fundamental principles of liberty and government. Locke’s writings were part of </span>Benjamin Franklin’s<span> self-education, and John Adams believed that both girls and boys should learn about Locke. The French philosopher </span>Voltaire<span> called Locke “the man of the greatest wisdom. What he has not seen clearly, I despair of ever seeing.” </span>
