# Natural Rights and Equality in Essays

> Theme guide for Essays by Thomas Paine.

The book argues that all people are born with inherent natural rights, including liberty, equality, and property, and that government must be founded on these principles rather than on hereditary privilege or divine right.

## Where it surfaces

- [Common Sense](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/common-sense): Paine asserts that all men are born equal and have natural rights that cannot be surrendered to a monarch.
- [Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/of-monarchy-and-hereditary-succession): Paine asserts that all men are originally equal and that monarchy violates natural rights by exalting one man above others.
- [Royalty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/royalty): Grounds the critique in the Rights of Man, equality, and the rejection of inherited authority over others.
- [Declaration of Rights](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/declaration-of-rights): The chapter explicitly defines natural rights (liberty, equality, security, property, social protection, resistance to oppression) and asserts that the maintenance of these rights is the object of society.
- [Dissertation on First Principles of Government](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/dissertation-on-first-principles-of-government): Paine asserts that hereditary government violates natural rights, and that equality of rights is the only just foundation for voting and representation.
- [Agrarian Justice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/agrarian-justice): Argues that the earth was originally the common property of all, and that private appropriation creates a debt owed to those who are excluded from their natural inheritance.
- [Author's Inscription](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/author-s-inscription): Paine argues for equality in natural property (earth, air, water) and the inherent right of suffrage, independent of tax payments.
- [Agrarian Justice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/agrarian-justice): Paine asserts that every person is born with a right to a share of the earth's natural property, and that civilization should not make anyone worse off than in the natural state.
- [Means by Which the Fund Is to Be Created](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/means-by-which-the-fund-is-to-be-created): The plan is based on the principle that every person has a natural right to a share of the earth's resources, and that civilization should not leave anyone worse off than in a state of nature.
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/chapters/endnotes): The endnotes emphasize Paine's view that the sacred rights of mankind are written in human nature by Divinity itself, and that a Declaration of Rights is the main safeguard against despotism.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/themes/natural_rights_and_equality
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_3_se/themes