In The Origin of Capitalism, Ellen Wood addresses misconceptions about the origin of capitalism. In addition to challenging the naturalization of capitalism, it draws attention to specific social forms and the particular ways in which capitalism deviates from them. Wood reviews John Locks' Second Treatise of Government, which brings a new and revolutionary attitude toward property by transforming the acquisition of property into a moral vocation and associating it with dignity. She considers Locke a prophet of capitalism, arguing that Locke's doctrine led to value added becoming a strong argument for expansion and annexation. More specifically, it is in the fifth chapter that Locke discusses property. Locke begins with the original condition of nature, in which the creation of property is done by the work of one's body and that of one's hands. Labor is, for Locke, the source of all value and our title to property. Human labor, not nature, is the source of property and acquisition. Furthermore, at the end of this chapter, we see the creation of a sophisticated market economy with various inequalities of wealth and property, within the state of nature. Through a series of moves, Locke neutralizes the radical discourses on property of his time; although natural law clearly has democratic implications, Locke actually excludes people from the system by restricting the rights of commoners. First, Wood begins his argument by rejecting the commercialization model of capitalism, according to which markets have always existed – the transition to the capitalist market is a change in quantity rather than quality. It challenges the idea that capitalism is a kind of natural human progress. The distinctive feature of the center...... middle of paper ......political and social institutions. According to Locke, trade is reliable and open. It is therefore not surprising that Locke addresses himself not so much to philosophers as to ordinary English men. He tried to resonate with the people of his time and place by writing in their everyday language and appealing to common sense. Locke's emphasis on the importance of the creation of exchange value as the basis of property constitutes an important departure from previous theorizations of property. It illustrates a change in philosophy of property law that is important for capitalism. Indeed, the very definition of capitalism is “a system in which goods and services, down to the most basic necessities of life, are produced for profitable exchange” (Wood 2). It should be noted that a century after Locke's Second Treatise, his ideas were expressed and developed in Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations..