Rights Of Man By Thomas Paine Analysis

In a quote from his 1790 book Rights of Man, Thomas Paine describes America as an amalgamation of people with various religions, languages, and nationalities of origin. Two hundred and twenty–five years later, this description remains fundamentally true. More precisely, the United States has actually become even more diverse over time, as immigrants from every corner of the world have chosen to make America their home. To find harmony among a population that is so dissimilar from each other seems like an impossibility. Yet, the people of America on the whole have managed to maintain a relatively peaceful concordance with each other. Paine submits that this unity among the public is facilitated by its unique …show more content…
Whenever the societal norms have been in opposition to the freedoms of the individual, people have in the history of America fought for change. Such abominations of slavery, inequality for women, or child labor have been thrown off precisely because these traditions violated individual liberty or the societal honor and decency. Furthermore, it is also the erosion of each those previous fundamental guidelines that Paine described which breeds frustration and anger among the people. Taxes do continue to grow. Government is not always just. The transgressions against the bill of rights grow every day. There is an escalation across the board of police violence against all people. The NDAA act allows for indefinite incarceration of American Citizens without hearing or trial. Finally, a government regularly enacting legislation on behalf of specific large companies or granting them contracts in essence is discriminatory toward other businesses. These governmental infractions are not yet numerous enough to keep the people in a prolonged uprising. However, they are enough to keep a level of discontent burning and when paired with the right catalyst it explodes into a full on