II. 04/24: Preface to the Frame of Government of Pennsylvania, William Penn, 1682

1. What is the author arguing?

William Penn is arguing that the state of Pennsylvania needs a government that is just and incorruptible. He argues that the God like right of government beyond exception is to serve two ends, to frighten evil doers and to protect and care for those that do well thus giving government a life beyond corruption that that will withstand the wear and pressures in the world as good as the character of men shall be. In other words, governments are only as good as the character of those who are responsible for governing. So as governments are influenced by the powers entrusted to them, they can also be ruined or corrupted by the very power they are given.

2. How does the author appeal to logos (logic), pathos (emotional quality), and ethos (the writer’s perceived character) with their argument?

William Penn appeals to logos in defining that governments are needed for the protection of the common man’s rights and to set rules upon the common man so that no one can easily do as they please. He also states that we need a democracy and not an oligarchy, monarchy, or aristocracy because these types of tyrannical control lead to the corruption and later destruction of the country as seen in the Jewish and Roman states. Penn’s appeal to pathos is compassionate and has intense fervor for the well being of Pennsylvania’s common man. This is proven in his statements, “…governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments. Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it. But, if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn.” These statements show that William Penn believes that every man should have a voice in the government’s creation and decisions and should never fear any repercussion for refusing and resisting the will of a corrupted and deceitful government. By the statements above we can allude to William Penn’s appeal to ethos as being that of an intelligent and just man that believes that the government should be for the good of the people and that our government is only as good as the people who are responsible for governing.

3. What is the historical significance/relevance of this document?

This document was the introduction to Pennsylvania’s first frame of constitutional government and formed the first steps of democracy in America. On the fifteenth anniversary of this preface, the Liberty Bell was created. This document later became one of the backbones for the United States Constitution.

4. Do you find the author’s argument convincing? Why or why not?

I find William Penn’s argument convincing because his statements on how governments that are formed by corruption or corrupt people are doomed to fail and become detrimental to the very people they serve. I believe Penn’s philosophy bears a ghastly comparison to America’s current affairs because our previous governmental leadership was corrupted into leading us into a war based on deception that has lead to our country’s current economic downturn and political crisis. We can also see how governmental corruption unfolds throughout the world such as the actions happening in Syria and Africa where their governments are destroying their countries and killing their own people whom they are responsible for protecting. An old saying says that “those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”