Student Web Activity Lesson Plans

Chapter 1: People and Government

Introduction
Government is the institution through which a state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces decisions that are binding on all its residents. Yet the United States government is not just an institution—it is made up of people who are elected by and represent the rest of the country's citizens. Their voices are our voices. We often take for granted the power this gives Americans today. The early Founders of the American Republic, however, did not take the right of representation lightly. In this activity, students will learn what Thomas Paine believed was the first principle of government, and why he believed so.

Lesson Description
Students will explore a Web site of early documents of the United States. They will read a document written by Thomas Paine, and answer four questions about Paine's interpretation of government principles. Students will then make a list of 10 ways the government is involved in their daily lives.

Instructional Objectives

Learners will identify the importance of unencumbered voting rights to the Founders of the United States.
Learners will comprehend the consequences of not giving the majority equal rights with the minority.
Learners will be able to make connections about the functions and principles of government to their own lives.

Student Web Activity Answers

Paine believed that equality of rights—in particular, the right to vote whether or not one owned property—was the first principle of government.
Property ownership, stated Paine, will "exclude a majority of the people and unite them in a common interest against the government and against those who support it; and as the power is always with the majority, they can overturn such a government and its supporters whenever they please."
The right of voting for representatives protects all other rights.
Paine believed that rights should be connected to duties. He stated that, "…rights become duties by reciprocity. The right which I enjoy becomes my duty to guarantee it to another, and he to me…. [T]he strength and permanent security of government is in proportion to the number of people interested in supporting it."
Students' lists will vary but may include government regulations that inspect food and water, laws that require drivers to pass a driving test, services such as paving roads and laying utility lines, trade agreements that allow inexpensive imports to be purchased, and so on.