Thomas Paine's Ideal: The American Government System

In his characterization, Thomas Paine was correct in envisioning a diverse American, one that he describes as “people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship.” People are constantly immigrating to America which contributes to the diverse environment. The immigrants bring their different backgrounds and qualities, however, those traits are not always welcomed resulting in issues like discrimination and social divides. Contrary to Paine’s beliefs, eliminating divides is not as simple as “constructing a government on the principles of society and the rights of man.” While the government does put effort into diminishing the divide among people, the difficulties still remain and there is very little “cordial union.” Today, over 225 years since Thomas Paine

In 1791, Thomas Paine wrote the book Rights of Man, in which he expresses his thoughts on the unity of the American people. Walter Russell, however, claims America "has always been a division of man. There has always been the conqueror and conquered - the master and the slave - the ruler and the ruled - the oppressor and the oppressed. There has never been content nor unity. There has been only discontent and disunity". While in the United States there are people similar to Paine who strive for freedom and diversity, there are also those, as Walter Russell illustrates, who promote racism, violence, and disunity. Thomas Paine's viewpoint is mostly inaccurate because while there are times of peace, justice, and concord, there are far greater instances of oppression, privilege, and riots in America.

John Locke, a Scottish philosopher had a profound influence on some of the most important documents to come about in American history. In The Second Treatise of Civil Government, his political and philosophical thinking can clearly be seen to have influenced the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Since Locke’s political theory influenced these two documents so greatly, one can see the similarities of them. Both documents seem to agree with the same aspects of freedom and government, with very minor disagreements.

Thomas Paine’s characterization of America from his book, Rights of Man, does not completely hold true in today’s American society. His description of social class relationships as well as just government is currently not a reality for Americans. However, his description of diversity is something that we do have in America today.

While reading the “The Second Treatise of Government,” you can notice and see that John Locke has a strong standing for civil rights as well as helping with the development of the Constitution of the United States. He states that the “consent of the governed,” is basically saying that communities are not put together by the divine right or ruled by. Paternal, familial, and political are types of powers that John Locke mentions that have all have unlike characteristics. He inspired others to believe in and want equal rights and democracy. John Locke talks about the state of nature, which basically states that no one has the power to be ruler of someone, as well as they are able to do what they want in a freely matter. In other words people are born just like anyone else that is born, and should have equally rights to property, health, and liberty, and that no one should have the power over anyone. Everyone should be able to live and enjoy his or her own freedom and wellbeing. However, the state of nature is not a guarantee to have natural laws, which could help with the protecting of one’s property. According to him having your own personal freedom was the true meaning of state of nature. John Locke thought that people were following his faith in human rationality through the declaration of Locke. John Locke states that if the government takes away from others for them to empower them then the people have right and opportunity to go against

Upon turning on the news in America, the media is not reporting stories of wholeness and community, which one would expect upon reading Thomas Paine 's passage. It instead is littered with videos of protests and fights, church shootings, riots, racist graffiti, and other hate crimes. Paine has an idealistic view of America, and while Americans have the capacity to join together (as shown following the 9/11 terrorist attacks) we also have struggled throughout history with racism, and continue to today. At the time Thomas Paine wrote his passage, America was hard set in its racist ways, and has continued its history of oppression to modern day.

Paine’s view of human nature and the need for government is that government is needed to keep people, who against their morals, in order. Paine believes that it is human nature tend to not do the right thing and go against their morals. If there was no government, Paine believes the society will fall apart. Therefore, the government is essential for survival of the society as long as it follows the ideas of the people.

Thomas Paine was an English-born American political activist and revolutionary. In 1791 he published a book titled “Rights of Man.” In this, Paine describes the natural rights of the people and what may happen if governments choose not to protect these rights. In this he states that America is a place against all odds doesn’t have oppressed poor, and that the rich are not overly privileged. Thomas Paine’s characterization of America doesn’t hold true today because the government is no longer just and that poor people are oppressed.

Dawning like the sun on a new day, the United Sates of America has risen to become the most powerful nation on Earth. The United States of today is a land of freedom and inspiration, and a place where dreams have a real possibility of coming true. Though the United States may be very strong today, it wasn’t always like this. In the years leading up to the formation of the United States, many of what are considered “natural rights” were not established, and the nation was in chaos trying to fight for these rights from the overruling British empire led by King George III. Several things led to the formation and firm establishment of the United States, the three most prominent being the imposition of taxation acts, acts of rebellion

He argues that a democratic system based on continual elections and rights of the people protected by a written constitution would be more beneficial to society. To strengthen the concept of democracy, Paine speaks of a hypothetical society brought up in an isolated part of the world, away from other inhabitants. This supposed society represented the first people. Thomas Paine claims that some of its people will have many accomplishments other will not; thus through hunger, disease, misfortune and death it is inevitable that the people will set up some form of government that “…will establish a common interest with every part of the community, they will mutually and naturally support each other, and on this (not on the unmeaning name of king) depends the strength of government, and the happiness of the governed” (Thomas Paine, Common Sense). This statement reassures his beliefs towards democracy while showing how pointless English rule is to society. Thomas Paine is attempting to promote American independence with this document by explaining the benefits of democracy, in doing so he is demeaning the English government. Paine emphasizes the prejudices the English may have had by stating, “And as a man, who is attached to a prostitute, is unfitted to choose

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address defined the American government as an institution “of the people, by the people, [and] for the people”. Lincoln had an idealistic view of the government as an instrument for societal change. He, as well as the founding fathers, intended for the government to act in support of the people’s will or the majority rule. This democratic definition of the government has remained true throughout the course of American history. By placing all of its power on its citizens, the government itself did not decide the course of history but rather followed it. This follower mindset is seen through the government’s positive interactions with marginalized groups’ who in their attempts to overcome exclusion gained

Thomas Paine, a revolutionary, intellectual, and supporter of American independence from England published a book titled, “Rights of Man” which deals with the government shielding the natural rights of its people. Initially, the book captures the diverse aspect of this nation, but it fails to reveal the struggles that arise to preserve and adapt to such a society. Paine expresses his optimism towards the supposed perfection of American society, as one “made up...of people from different nations,” with certain expectations. Additionally, the time gap between “Rights of Man” and modern America cannot be neglected. Paine wrote during an era in which “constructing a government on the principles of society and the rights of man” was the essential objective of the country. However, modern-day America experiences opposite ideals and Paine’s theory no longer remains true because of the educational gap between the rich and poor, terrorism, and racial profiling.

Politics now a days is hard to understand and when we do understand and want to create change it's hard to get our government to create change. In "The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left," Levin tells the story of an unfriendly rivalry between the progenitors modern conservatism and modern liberalism. In the time Burke and Paine shared — the late 18th century — philosophical arguments could ignite revolutions, and pamphlets could be as important as battles. Both Burke and Paine were masters of political rhetoric at a time when political rhetoric really mattered, and their rivalry still reverberates. In today's society about conflicts between the police and minority communities in the US, Burk would take a position that the american government has to change some laws around in order to create equality and justice while Pain would take a position of starting all over is the way to go to create something better for all.

There has always been a relationship between religion and democracy. Religion provides the framework and moral boundaries for democracy. Democracy preaches freedom but not absolute freedom, religion decides what freedom is necessary for democracy to work. The question then becomes, what religion is the best fit for a thriving democracy. Thomas Paine, political activist, philosopher, political theorist, believes that a deistic religion is necessary for democracy to function effectively and to be truly called a democracy. In this essay, I will discuss Paine’s argument and evaluate it, using Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s ideals.

Thomas Paine was a man of great faith ideals. His faith was similar and different in many ways to that of the Puritans. The Puritans were known for their faith in god, and for their strict morals and religious rules on how we should act and live. The two differ in that Paine does not believe in any certain religion and Puritanism pertains to Christianity; However Paine and Puritanism are alike in terms of their beliefs and morals.