Question

The following argument was made by Thomas Paine in his famous pamphlet Common Sense.

”Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”
Which concept from the United States Constitution is represented in Thomas Paine’s statement?

A states’ rights
B limited government
C amendment process
D federalism

Answer 1

B — limited government.

Paine’s passage emphasizes that government is a necessary evil whose power must be restrained: people “furnish the means by which we suffer,” so government should be limited so it cannot oppress them. This matches the Constitutional principle of limited government.