Aim and meaning of constitution according to Thomas Paine

For Thomas Paine, to build a free and rightful system of government, a written constitution, a document where the limits and the division of power are indicated, is necessary. The praise of a constitution as a written document (easily quotable and with a material existence), has, in first instance, a polemical meaning against the English constitution, an unwritten and traditional one mixing written rules, acts of parliament, customs etc. This polemical outlook finds a positive counterpart in the American experience, where the idea of a written constitution is, according to Paine, the political core of the American revolution and of the War of Independence. This general idea of constitution, central to Paine’s thought on the subject, develops throughout the years.