approach to political America
After reading all of the essays and documents, I have deduced that every author has a unique style and approach to political America. Thomas Paine seems to be rather passionate about his ideas in his essays and makes an effort to emphasize his thoughts completely. In the “Age of Reason,” Paine says, “Can we conceive anything more destructive to morality than this?” when explaining how a man starts committing crimes when his mind is corrupted by thoughts he does not believe in (“Age of Reason” 5). This shows that Paine speaks out in his essays in quite a direct manner and is not afraid of letting his thoughts be known. Thomas Jefferson’s approach for writing is very detail-oriented, and making sure that everything that is said is descriptive and thorough. This is shown by how well Jefferson describes the scenery of different caves and landmarks in the state of Virginia. Estes’ approach is highly analytical of “The Federalist” and contains comments about his thoughts on those essays.
The Federalist defends some theoretical principles, such as ideational theories and cultural-historical theories.
In the “Common Sense” pamphlet, Thomas Paine makes a remark about how “Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America.” He uses this metaphor to show how the colonies should break away from England and how England does not treat America right. This metaphor also shows that most of America’s influence came from Europe rather than England.
Paine’s “most powerful of all arguments” for independence is, “that nothing but independence, i.e., a continental form of government, can keep the peace of the continent and preserve it inviolate from civil wars.” This shows that Paine is adamant in his belief that independence and a decent system of government are what can prevent wars and maintain peace.
I believe that the “Age of Reason” is a rational argument because Thomas Paine makes valid points about how different belief systems operate and how every person can think what they want to believe without having anything imposed upon them. Paine uses inductive reasoning when referencing belief systems when he says, “I did not see the angel myself, and therefore I have a right not to believe it.” This shows rationality and logical thinking, as everyone has the freedom to choose what they want to believe. Paine thinks of his mind as his church, and that is the reason that he disagrees with every other religion (“Age of Reason” 5).
From the “Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson writes about his beliefs concerning slavery, nature, and aspects of a free society. There are several lessons to be learned from his notes, one of those being how people of different colors could not coexist peacefully in such a beautiful and free society. Jefferson describes nature in Virginia in as much detail as possible to show how there are so many resources and so much land available in the state. However, there are still conflicts over superficial things such as different skin colors.
According to James Madison, factions occur when there are a group of people “who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or the permanent and aggregate interests of the community” (“The Federalist” 43). Madison also offers solutions to eliminating factions, either by “removing the causes or controlling the effects” (“The Federalist” 43).
James Madison believed that humans were neither good or bad, but rather what the world made them out to be. Madison thought that when humans appeared “bad,” they were likely to “fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts” (“The Federalist” 43). Madison believed that unification would be beneficial for the country, so his view on government was that there should be a stable central government.