account of labour, and received as an effect of that: nature and 
the earth furnished only the almost worthless materials, as in 
themselves.  It would be a strange catalogue of things, that 
industry provided and made use of, about every loaf of bread, 
before it came to our use, if we could trace them; iron, wood, 
leather, bark, timber, stone, bricks, coals, lime, cloth, dying 
drugs, pitch, tar, masts, ropes, and all the materials made use 
of in the ship, that brought any of the commodities made use of 
by any of the workmen, to any part of the work; all which it 
would be almost impossible, at least too long, to reckon up.

     Sec. 44.  From all which it is evident, that though the 
things of nature are given in common, yet man, by being master of 
himself, and proprietor of his own person, and the actions or 
labour of it, had still in himself the great foundation of 
property; and that, which made up the great part of what he 
applied to the support or comfort of his being, when invention 
and arts had improved the conveniencies of life, was perfectly 
his own, and did not belong in common to others.

     Sec. 45.  Thus labour, in the beginning, gave a right of 
property, wherever any one was pleased to employ it upon what 
was common, which remained a long while the far greater part, and 
is yet more than mankind makes use of.  Men, at first, for the 
most part, contented themselves with what unassisted nature 
offered to their necessities: and though afterwards, in some 

parts of the world, (where the increase of people and stock, with 
the use of money, had made land scarce, and so of some value) 
the several communities settled the bounds of their distinct 
territories, and by laws within themselves regulated the 
properties of the private men of their society, and so, by 
compact and agreement, settled the property which labour and 
industry began; and the leagues that have been made between 
several states and kingdoms, either expresly or tacitly disowning 
all claim and right to the land in the others possession, have, 
by common consent, given up their pretences to their natural 
common right, which originally they had to those countries, and 
so have, by positive agreement, settled a property amongst 
themselves, in distinct parts and parcels of the earth; yet there 
are still great tracts of ground to be found, which (the 
inhabitants thereof not having joined with the rest of mankind, 
in the consent of the use of their common money) lie waste, and 
are more than the people who dwell on it do, or can make use of, 
and so still lie in common; tho' this can scarce happen amongst 
that part of mankind that have consented to the use of money.

     Sec. 46.  The greatest part of things really useful to the 
life of man, and such as the necessity of subsisting made the 
first commoners of the world look after, as it cloth the 
Americans now, are generally things of short duration; such 
as, if they are not consumed by use, will decay and perish of 
themselves: gold, silver and diamonds, are things that fancy or 
agreement hath put the value on, more than real use, and the 
necessary support of life.  Now of those good things which nature 
hath provided in common, every one had a right (as hath been 
said) to as much as he could use, and property in all that he 
could effect with his labour; all that his industry could 
extend to, to alter from the state nature had put it in, was his.  
He that gathered a hundred bushels of acorns or apples, had 
thereby a property in them, they were his goods as soon as 
gathered.  He was only to look, that he used them before they 
spoiled, else he took more than his share, and robbed others.  
And indeed it was a foolish thing, as well as dishonest, to hoard 
up more than he could make use of.  If he gave away a part to any 
body else, so that it perished not uselesly in his possession, 
these he also made use of.  And if he also bartered away plums, 
that would have rotted in a week, for nuts that would last good 
for his eating a whole year, he did no injury; he wasted not the 
common stock; destroyed no part of the portion of goods that 
belonged to others, so long as nothing perished uselesly in his 
hands.  Again, if he would give his nuts for a piece of metal, 
pleased with its colour; or exchange his sheep for shells, or 
wool for a sparkling pebble or a diamond, and keep those by him 
all his life he invaded not the right of others, he might heap up 
as much of these durable things as he pleased; the exceeding of 
the bounds of his just property not lying in the largeness of 
his possession, but the perishing of any thing uselesly in it.

     Sec. 47.  And thus came in the use of money, some lasting 
thing that men might keep without spoiling, and that by mutual 
consent men would take in exchange for the truly useful, but 
perishable supports of life.

     Sec. 48.  And as different degrees of industry were apt to 
give men possessions in different proportions, so this invention 
of money gave them the opportunity to continue and enlarge them: 
for supposing an island, separate from all possible commerce with 
the rest of the world, wherein there were but an hundred 
families, but there were sheep, horses and cows, with other 
useful animals, wholsome fruits, and land enough for corn for a 
hundred thousand times as many, but nothing in the island, either 
because of its commonness, or perishableness, fit to supply the 
place of money; what reason could any one have there to enlarge 
his possessions beyond the use of his family, and a plentiful 
supply to its consumption, either in what their own industry 

produced, or they could barter for like perishable, useful 
commodities, with others?  Where there is not some thing, both 
lasting and scarce, and so valuable to be hoarded up, there men