Read the following excerpt.
Excerpt from Thomas Paine's 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 (so bad that it cannot be endured) 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 (distress) is heightened by
reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer!
What principle, later incorporated into the U. S. Constitution, does Thomas Paine advise in this excerpt?
o federalism
equal rights
limited government
checks and balances