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Functionalist William Graham Sumner wrote the essay The Challenge of Facts, which detailed the challenges of the life of man. The particular excerpt that was read was entitled “Advancing Social and Political Organization in the United States”. This reading references the early history of the United States in detail and how it grew into the working society that it is today. The examination and detail put into it clearly shows that Sumner was into the functionalist paradigm.
First things first, what is functionalism? The textbook definition of the functionalist paradigm is,“ The model that assumes that parts of society work.” In other words the functionalist paradigm dictates that the parts of society that work together to make it function must work in order for a society to run smoothly. Throughout Sumner’s essay this is shown in every aspect, whether it be talking about a man’s duty to support his family or the function of the early United States.
Sumner says that in the beginning, the United States was an “embryo society”, something left to grow on its own. This was possible because the people who shaped this country into the major world superpower it is today were not savages, that is to say they were civilized men. Although they began shaping the country in the way of its mother country, they deviated with new and radical ideas, most being radicals themselves of their own countries, fleeing for a chance at getting a new beginning.
The idea that the United States is based on “liberty” is also touched upon. Sumner references the term liberty in the anarchist definition, meaning without restraint. He states that in the early history of the U.S.A. that the laws and customs extended over all areas of life, except for religion, which still holds true today. Freedom was very limited due to high organization in the United States. He also goes onto say that later developments in laws and customs more than compensate for this type of “barbaric...