The Was A Man With His Own Ideas

Thomas Paine believed that the selection of Kings was unnatural because people are born into being Kings and nothing assures that the person will be a good leader. Just because your father was a good leader does not mean that you will be one. Paine states that nature would disapprove it, and that we should not give mankind “an ass for a lion”1. He says that when we were created we were all created equal. The British had so much control no one could do anything about it. They could not overcome the government and it made the colonists feel useless. This is exactly why Paine criticized the monarchial government because they were indeed doing everything unfairly and doing it only to benefit themselves.

1. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with the British monarchy involve its straying from ideal government, the unjust placement of one individual above all others, and its hereditary aspect. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with King George III in particular are his personal transgressions against liberty. Thomas Paine, firstly views government as “but a necessary evil” (15), and therefore it should be both as limited as possible and also tied to the more positive society. The ideal form of government, thus according to Paine, is a simple republic where the elected are forced to be accountable to their electors (16). The British monarchy fails in all accounts; not only does the prescence of a monarchy at all eliminate the accountability of a republic, but the complicatedness of the British monarchy system makes it worse in this aspect than even other monarchies. Although absolute monarchies are horrid in that they give no power to the people, they are still simpler than the British monarchy; this makes issues much more difficult to handle in the British monarchy (17). The other problems that Paine has with the British monarchy apply to monarchies at large. Paine argues that the placement of one person above all others is an unnatural divide; there is no explanation for the division of people into “KINGS and SUBJECTS” (22) such as there are in other forms of division that humans live with. If it does not make sense to place one individual above all others, then such should most certainly not be law; therefore, from this logic, monarchy, which is entirely based on the principle of placing one person (and their relatives) above all others, is an invalid and unnatural form of government. Of course, some people could, arguably, have earned the admiration and respect of their peers through important action, and thus be deserving of a leadership position. In a republic, by listening to their electors, the elected earn their right to lead. However, the hereditary monarchy removes this earning of the right to lead, and Paine takes issue with that. There is no guarantee that the descendants of a good leader will also be good leaders, and therefore the government of a country should never be left to heredity (29).

It claims all monarchs are despots, cut off from their people and craving for absolute power.  “Male and female are the distinctions of nature,” Paine wrote, “good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest . . . is worth enquiring into” (Paine 9).  Government is a necessary evil, a “badge of lost innocence,” that tends to get in the way of civilized society.  Modern civilizations should organize themselves into local, self-governing societies with only representational government, suggested Paine, not an all-powerful monarch. “Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived” (Paine 17).

Thomas Paine claims in Common Sense that the people living in America do not need to tolerate the oppression from their British overlords. His main purpose for writing this pamphlet was to expose the injustice of the British towards the Americans and to persuade those who still believed that the British were either needed or were beneficial for the Americans in 1776. Paine values the idea that the Americans need to revolt against their evil ,oppressive, monarchical rulers in Britain and to establish pure democracy in the Thirteen Colonies. Paine writes from the perspective of an equal to his fellow American man, thus making him relatable from common folk to the wealthy merchants and upper classes. Paine shows the British tyranny over America as horrific and he wishes to expose British faults and impurities to inspire the colonists

Thomas Paine is not an advocate of monarchy. In fact, he called monarchy institutionalized robbing. In his work Rights of Man, the political philosopher contrasts old government with new government, defining the former as hereditary and the latter as a representative system. Specifically, Paine had two major objections to monarchy; first, he argued that a hereditary government is a imposition on humans, and secondly, “it is inadequate to the purpose for which government is necessary” (Paine 113). A hereditary government unfairly binds future generations, this would make the monarchy illegitimate because a government must have continuous consent in order to be legitimate. If a monarch inherits a kingdom he too inherits its people, Paine says to inherit people is to treat them as farm animals. To sum up this point, Paine exclaims that a hereditary monarchy reduces humans to beasts.

First I can start off by telling you who Thomas Paine is, he was born on January 29, 1737 in Thetford, England. He failed himself out of school when he was twelve. He

Thomas Paine was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. A founding father continuously starts and helps a movement institution and he also was a member of convection that drew up the U.S. Constitution in 1787. He was also the philosopher of the American War for Independence. He was a revolutionary who was an originator of an institution and movements.

Thomas Paine’s Influence on the American Revolution Despite many peoples’ current beliefs that the thirteen colonies should go to war, in the 1770’s it was unthought of, and repudiated by numerous people living in what would soon be the United States. One famous person that went against what a majority of the people thought was Thomas Paine. Paine undermined the king in his pamphlets Common Sense, which was the primary influence on the Americans’ decision to go to war. Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737 in Norfolk, England.

Thomas Paine made no secret for his hatred of the British monarchy. This was partially due to their absolutism beliefs, the oppression of his countrymen, and the system of government where the rich got richer and the poor get poorer. He believed that Britain would never have a balanced government so long as monarchy and hereditary succession stayed in place. When Thomas Paine immigrated to Philadelphia, several things had strong influences on his writing of Common Sense. The Intolerable acts as well as the Enlightenment Challenge influenced his writing concerning the view of parliament and British monarchy (maybe switch this sentence for the next one).After Parliament had passed The Intolerable Acts, Paine watched the continuation and control the British Monarchy and Parliament had in America, along with their unnatural behaviors and influence over government issues, the ideological changes that came from ‘The Enlightenment Challenge’. Paine believed change could and should happen; that America could find economic independence and not carry any burden of debt if they separated from Britain since their debt was actually Britain’s in the first place. Paine said that there could be no reconciliation; he understood that to become free and have liberties with an independent government there was no going back, only forward. Paine had a strong desire to see religious freedom become possible, and for people to have the right to choose and

It is clear that many of Paine’s ideas were influenced by Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu. For example, in critiquing the British monarchy, Paine shows how he was influenced by Locke. Locke believed that under the Law of Nature all men were born equals, none with more power than any of the others unless blessed by a God to be more powerful. Paine believes, as he states that “Mankind being originally equals in the order of creation...” are only divided amongst the distinctions which are natural, such as male and female, or heavenly such as good and bad. However, “...the distinctions of men into kings and subjects…” is unnatural according to both Paine and Locke, as it is neither a divine nor natural distinction,

Paine believes that monarchies in general are “exceedingly ridiculous” as it is full of hypocrisies, and forces one to infer many impossible superiorities. For example, a king is isolated from the world, living a life very different from the average citizen, yet his job requires that he thoroughly understand what is best for these average citizens in order to most acceptably govern and judge them. Paine believes that monarchies are justifiable neither by the laws of nature, nor by the laws of God.To further his point about the ridiculousness of kings, Paine says that “...it is the pride of kings which throw mankind into confusion…” and wars. Hereditary succession is seen as utterly unjust, as “...all men being originally equals, no one by birth

In today’s world, with the newly elected president, one may say that, now, the nation would be better off without a government or someone in higher power. Government of today usually classifies citizens, making them not as equal as thought be and practices favoritism towards some while discriminating towards others. This kind of separation and negligent behavior to the whole is what births wars and riots. In addition to placing an average individual in control of other average individuals, the government also makes the mistake of allowing those Kings hereditary succession. One person’s accomplishments, skills, or even personality may be entirely different from the next person in line for the throne, and therefore should not be rewarded such responsibility.

Thomas Paine was an English-American philosopher, political theorist, political activist, revolutionary, and one of Americas Founding Fathers. He was born on February 9, 1737 in Thetford, United Kingdom. His early life in England consisted of little education, other than reading, writing, and arithmetic, and numerous jobs such as stay maker, corset makers, and an officer. He never exceeded at any of these tasks. It was 1772 where he published his first political article pertaining to the higher pay excise officers should receive. After this, Paine moved to America where he went on to work for Pennsylvania Magazine and write several essays and pamphlets that influenced many Americans during the American Revolution. Some of his crucial pieces of work consist of African Slavery in America, Rights of a Man, The Age of Reason, and perhaps Paine’s

Thomas Paine was an English-born political activist. As a Founding Father, he penned Common Sense, an influential pamphlet that convinced the colonists to declare independence. Almost every rebel read or heard a reading of Common Sense. Paine talks about a variety of topics in his pamphlet, from arguments against reconciliation to calls for rebellion against Great Britain. However, for Paine, the main goal for this pamphlet was to argue against the evils of the monarchy. Through Common Sense, Thomas Paine attempts to argue against the idea of a monarchy by using a variety of logical arguments that prove it is far inferior to a democracy.

Burke also argued against natural rights and explained a custom and practice that develops relation between the government and people. Paine believed in equality and criticised the monarch being chosen by the hereditary succession and by the choice of the people. He wanted the British Constitution to be written because he saw it as not right, and it was brought in during the Glorious Revolution in 1688.