Ronald Hatzenbuehler Analysis

In classic republicanism, the state of nature is men are corruptible; therefore, government steps in to guard individual rights and encourage civil virtues. According to The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, it states, “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union… promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…” America was founded on the principles that the people would need to be virtuous in order to survive. In Jefferson, Lincoln, and the Unfinished Work of the Nations by Ronald Hatzenbuehler, it argues how both Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, two of our nation’s great presidents, agree that government has a responsibility to “encourage the shaping of virtuous citizenry” by educating the general public. To better understand how government would go about doing this, one would need to define what virtue is which is moral goodness; or a quality considered morally good or desirable in a person. Government should play a role in nurturing virtuous citizenry by making both primary and higher education easily accessible to all citizens through funding and required classes causing them to become more independent which gives them the ability to become active participants in governmental issues. …show more content…
Lincoln says it best, human beings need to ensure that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the