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Machiavelli The Prince

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Niccolò Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy, on May 3 1469. In order to fully understand Machiavelli, one needs to understand he was born during a time of upheaval and social unrest. His father was a lawyer, and he received extensive education as a child. During this time, the Medici family, who ruled Florence at that time and many more centuries to come, temporary fell and lost political power. Machiavelli became a diplomat for the Republic of Florence while the Medici family was exiled. The Medici family came back to power in 1512 and tortured, jailed, and banished from politics, as Machiavelli was involved in attempting to organize a military against the return of the Medici family. The Republic of Florence subsequently ended.

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Therefore, he wrote II Principle, also known as The Prince, in 1513. It wasn’t widely known at that time, but it has been more recognized later in the century. The Prince was controversial, due to its views of religion, morality, and ethics, and the Catholic Church banned the book. The Prince is one of Machiavelli’s greatest works, and is also considered to be one of the most politically important handbooks for being a ruthless and efficient leader at the same time. Some of his other famous works include Discorsi Sopra La Prima Deca Di Tito Livio (1531, Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius) The Mandrake(1528) a satirical play and Il Principe (1532, The Prince).

Machiavelli’s main political theory talks about that it is mainly the skill and power of the individual leader that determines the success of the state. Nice politicians do not mean that there will be a successful state. It is almost impossible to be a good person (in the traditional Christian sense) and a good politician at the same time. While it is best to be both feared and loved, a prince should always create a sense of terror as that is what keeps society organized. The ruler needs to have the ferocity of a lion to frighten

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In addition, Machiavelli didn 't take the traditional route for supporting his argument of advice. He didn 't bother using any ethical or philosophical principles as the base for his advice he was trying to give. Instead, he used his own political program on real-life examples as his foundation to his treatise. Which is probably one of the reasons why "The Prince" got so much negative criticism. Machiavelli is practically stepping out of line by explaining what a prince should or should not do in pursuit of his

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In Niccolo Machiavelli's book, The Prince (1513), he evaluates on how a prince can be a successful leader. Machiavelli’s purpose of this guidebook was to construct his argument to the rising ruler Giuliano de Medici for when he comes to power in Florence. He adopts a casual but authoritative tone in order to convince the prince that Machiavelli’s evaluation on how to be the best prince, is the right thing for the prince to do without coming off as he knows more than the prince or is trying to intimidate him.. Machiavelli’s reference to previous rulers and whether their tactics failed or succeeded helps to benefit his credibility along with his allusion to historic text. He appeals to our logic by simply stating a prince can only do what is within his power to control, and his use of an analogy furthers his argument.

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Thomas Jefferson and Niccolo Machiavelli both believe that the actions of the people shape the characteristics of the ruler and define the type of authority that will be held towards the people. Machiavelli, the first great political philosopher of the Renaissance, argues all men are untrustworthy due to their selfish, self-interested and impulsive ways of life in his writing, The Morals of the Prince, and therefore, to keep the people under control the ruler must be prepared to be cruel and instill fear among the people. Opposing Machiavelli is Jefferson. In The Declaration of Independence Jefferson believes people can be trusted since they have the ability to make their own decisions. Whereas Machiavelli supports tyranny, Jefferson believes

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In 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli wrote “The Prince,” telling rulers how they should rule. (Document 1) Many of the ideas in his book are shown in the ways these rulers governed their people. King Louis XIV believed if there were multiple people had power more would take advantage of it (Document 3) which is a major idea from “The Prince,” stating “for love is held by a bond of obligation, which, as men are wicked, is broken whenever personal advantage suggests it.” (Document 1).

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