Rights of Man

Character Guide

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Thomas Paine (The Author)

The author and narrator, an English-American political writer who argues in favor of the French Revolution and republican government, and against hereditary monarchy and aristocracy.

Edmund Burke (Mr. Burke)

A British statesman whose 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' Paine directly rebuts throughout the book; portrayed early on as a defender of monarchy and hereditary government.

The Abbe Sieyes

A French political writer and clergyman to whom Paine addresses portions of the work, particularly on monarchical versus representative government.

The National Assembly (French National Assembly)

The revolutionary French legislative body Paine presents as embodying the principles of representative government and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

The People / The Nation (Society)

Treated throughout as the true source of all legitimate governmental power, capable of self-regulation through natural social bonds independent of formal government.

Louis XVI (The French King)

Referenced as the monarch whose government was overturned by the French Revolution, used by Paine as an example in discussing hereditary succession.

Glossary

Hereditary succession

The practice of passing political power down through family lineage; Paine repeatedly attacks this as irrational and unjust.

Civil rights

Rights that arise from natural rights but require the collective power of society to secure, as distinguished from natural rights themselves.

Natural rights

Rights inherent to a person simply by virtue of existing, prior to and independent of any government or society.

Res-Publica

Latin for 'the public thing' or public affairs; Paine uses it to explain that 'republic' describes government's purpose, not a specific form.

Ancien régime old government

Paine's shorthand for the pre-revolutionary hereditary monarchies and aristocracies of Europe, contrasted with the new representative system.

Representative system

Paine's preferred form of government, combining the democratic principle of popular sovereignty with practical delegation of authority through elected representatives.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

The French revolutionary document, reproduced by Paine, asserting that all men are born and remain free and equal in rights.

Placemen

Individuals appointed to government positions as rewards or for political convenience rather than merit, criticized by Paine as corrupting Parliament.

Primogeniture

The legal practice of the eldest child (usually son) inheriting the family estate, which Paine condemns as unjust to younger children and to the nation.

States General

The traditional French assembly of estates (clergy, nobility, commons) that could be called on extraordinary occasions, cited by Paine as a precedent for consulting national opinion.

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