Society In The 1700's

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The 1700’s was an age filled with revolutionary thinking considered groundbreaking and preposterous at the time, the entire century itself filled to the brim with new ideas and thoughts being expressed to the public. You may ask, “How can an entire century, society already busy with the settling of the New World and the eventual Revolution, contain such pieces of literature, and the ideas that were written within them?” The answer, the ideas and thoughts that society today calls ‘revolutionary’ weren’t originally accepted, but rejected. The changes suggested by these writing, changes that would later occur, were not immediately made, and the authors of these famous pieces suffered from public criticism. It was late in the 1700’s that these …show more content…
Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.” (Paine) Paine believed that society is composed of those who live within it, whereas government is something that exists to keep those living in society safe from harming itself, therefore government exists as a necessary evil to restrain our vices. In his view, government is less evil the more simplistic a society is, and since our society is so vastly complex, our government is seen as more evil. This is because a complex society offers more for a government to limit, and during the …show more content…
And there is no instance in which we have shown less judgment, than in endeavoring to describe, what we call, the ripeness or fitness of the Continent for independence.” (Paine) The author shares his experience of how the Revolution was taken, both in the Colonies and across the pond. He believes everyone saw the Revolution as inevitable and necessary, regardless of loyalties. Paine goes on to list the Patriots resources, and makes a case to present the Revolution not as a war, but as a natural progression of settling the New World, believing the continent’s resources the best in the world. Not denying the impressiveness of England’s resources, he only explains as to why they should not concern colonists. Numerous opportunities exist for the new country left behind after the Revolution to utilize, and the author expresses his belief that those opportunities would better serve a new America, as they would not be used to enforce suffering. Paine tries to use the sheer numbers of the colonists to persuade readers to join the cause against the crown, emphasizing the “infant state of the Colonies” (Paine) as a wonderful opportunity to separate from England that should not be passed over fear, again stating fear as tool that only
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