# Of Constitutions explained — The Rights of Man

> Chapter companion for The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.

## What happens

Paine argues that constitutions are not compacts between people and government, but compacts among the people themselves to create a government. He contrasts the American and French constitutional processes with the British system, emphasizing that constitutions must be revisable by each generation and that the rights of man belong to all generations equally. He criticizes Burke's notion of binding posterity and advocates for periodic constitutional revision, the abolition of personal oaths, and the idea that government is a trust, not a trade.

## Themes in this chapter

### Natural Rights of Man

Paine asserts that the Rights of Man are the rights of all generations and cannot be monopolized, emphasizing the universal and inalienable nature of these rights.

### Popular Sovereignty

Paine argues that constitutions are compacts among the people, not between people and government, and that government is a trust delegated by the people.

### Representative Government

Paine details the American system of representation, including elections, judicature, and the periodic revision of constitutions, as a model for representative government.

### Society vs. Government

Paine contrasts the natural sociability of man with the corrupting influence of governments, arguing that human nature is not vicious but is corrupted by government.

## Character check-ins

### Edmund Burke

Paine criticizes Burke's principle of binding and controlling posterity to the end of time, calling it detestable.

### George Washington

Paine dedicates The Rights of Man to Washington, though Washington is not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### Marquis de La Fayette

Paine references the French National Assembly and its declaration, which Lafayette helped draft.

## Key lines

> The Rights of Man are the rights of all generations of men, and cannot be monopolised by any.

The rights of man belong to every generation equally and cannot be claimed exclusively by any one group or era.

_Paine's core argument against Burke's idea of binding posterity._

> Government is not a trade which any man, or any body of men, has a right to set up and exercise for his own emolument, but is altogether a trust, in right of those by whom that trust is delegated.

Government is not a business for private profit but a responsibility entrusted to officials by the people.

_Paine's definition of government as a public trust, not a private enterprise._

> That which is worth following, will be followed for the sake of its worth, and it is in this that its security lies, and not in any conditions with which it may be encumbered.

Things that are truly valuable will be pursued because of their inherent worth, not because of artificial constraints.

_Paine argues that constitutions should be followed voluntarily, not enforced by rigid conditions._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters/iv-of-constitutions
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/chapters