Thomas Paine’s Arguments in Common Sense in Favor of Independence
Second Draft For Review
Will Collins
Thomas Paine published Common Sense in January of 1776 at a tipping point in the American Revolution. The Colonies had been in rebellion nine months after the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord. Washington’s army was had set siege to Boston. However, there was a large number of colonists that were undecided about the wisdom of revolution and independence. Many colonists still felt emotionally attached to the mother country and the king and many questioned how revolution and war would bring peace. In addition, given the relative wealth (and low taxes) of the Colonies, many questioned the wisdom of separating from their main
…show more content…
However, turning the argument on its head, Paine suggested Great Britain’s imperial nature was already hurting American trade and that America should be more connected to Europe. Monarchies, according to Paine never seem to rest and, as such, Great Britain and its king would always threaten the peace of the Continent. Being allied with England, “sets us at variance with nations, who would otherwise seek our friendship, and against whom, we have neither anger nor complaint.” (14) Instead, he reasoned, “…as Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no partial connection with any part of it. It is the true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do, while by her dependence on Britain…” (15) Paine again used familial metaphor to complete the argument “…Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America.” …show more content…
He said, “time has found us” (18) as if it were a God-given fact. By using Biblical interpretation and culturally reachable metaphors, Paine was able to construct compelling arguments for independence within the intellectual and, more importantly, within the emotional reach of most colonists. These arguments were instrumental in the Americans finally declaring independence within six months of the publication of Common Sense. Literature Cited
1. Thomas Paine. Common Sense. Mineola, NY.: Dover Publications, 1997. 9.
2. Paine, Common Sense, 11.
3. Paine, Common Sense, 20.
4. Paine, Common Sense,
The first similarity between Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson is that both documents called for the independence of American colonies under the British crown. Thomas Paine explained to the colonist the reasons why they should become free from British rule. One of the topics Paine focused on was how the king of Britain abused the rights of the colonist. Some of the mal-practices the crown imposed on the colonist include, the heavy taxation on the colonist to help Britain recover from its war expenses against the French and to help rebuild the nation and wellbeing of its citizens back
During the late 1700's, the colonies and their mother country, Great Britain, were butting heads with immense taxation and the unreasonable laws England placed on the colonies. Thomas Paine was a journalist at the time and published one of his famous works "Common Sense" in 1776. The pamphlet was intended to challenge the British government authority that was overruling the colonial power. The arguments Paine states in Common Sense became some of the deciding factors of the colonies breaking away from Great Britain.
Paine's first published work was called African Slavery in America a pamphlet criticizing slavery in America as wrong and unjust. In 1775 Thomas Paine picked up on the revolutionary spirit that was rising in America with the events of the Boston Tea Party and the events of Lexington and Concord. On January 10, 1776 Paine wrote the pamphlet know as Common Sense. This pamphlet became one of the best selling, most influential documents to come out of the Revolution. Thomas Paine was able to explain to most everyone, since most everyone read his pamphlet, not only what the people of America should be fighting for but why they should be fighting for it. John Adams once said “Without the pen of the author of Common Sense the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain”. In Common Sense Paine says that sooner or later America needs to separate with the mother country. Thomas Paine explains these Arguments with facts and common sense, thus the
When the year 1776 began, few colonists could have predicted what lay ahead.Most colonists still hoped for a peaceful end to the quarrel with Britain.Both patriots and loyalists were in a minority at the start of 1776. Many colonists were in the middle,with no strong feelings about the dispute with britain. Even within the continental congress,support for independence was limited to about one third of the delegates.Patriots such as John Adams found it hard to win others to the cause of independence.Adams complained that loyalists used the prospect of independence as a way to frighten people into giving up the struggle.In January 1776,a 50 page pamphlet titled common sense was published in pliladelphia.The pamphlet simulated broad support for independence.The author, Thomas Paine, called king george a “royal brute.”Paine ridiculed the very idea of rule by kings.Americans,he said , would be far better off if they
In 46 Pages author Scott Liell is able to poignantly illustrate the colonies metamorphosis from a dependent arm of the English Empire to an independent country, the catalyst for which was Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Liell is able to not only articulate the turning point of the American consensus towards independence, but he also very intelligibly depicts the sentiments of all facets of colonial dogma and the torrential effect that Common Sense had in loosening the cement that held those beliefs. Using fantastic examples of the opinions of Tories, Whigs, and those ambivalent towards independence, Liell efficiently and
January 1776, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet, that had an Impact on the world as a whole today. When writing the Pamphlet little did Paine know he would have such an impact on how society is run today. “Common Sense” was an outburst not only in Paine's career but for Independence for many others as well. Despite all odds against Paine, Paine was a leader and influenced American colonists to Break apart from the British’s rule. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “Common Sense,” led to the American Revolution, and eventually led to freedom for American Colonists from Great Britain, and paved way for the Declaration of Independence.
Today we look back at the American Revolution and picture a united people fighting for inalienable rights, but to grasp the impact that Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” had upon his contemporaries we must understand the situation in the American colonies in 1776. When Paine wrote his pamphlet, the colonist and The Parliament in London, were almost 10 years into a debate over the rights of limited self-government by the colonies. In the months preceding the publication of Paine’s pamphlet the situation had steadily worsened until the April 19th, 1775 armed confrontation between Massachusetts colonists and British Army soldiers. By the end of that day, blood had been shed by both sides, and armed colonists placed the British garrison in Boston under siege. Despite this violence, most colonists viewed the events as a part of a struggle between Englishmen that would be resolved with the continued allegiance of the colonies to the Crown, but with more favorable treatment from London. It was with this popular mindset throughout the colonies, that Paine would deliver his “Common Sense” pamphlet arguing for complete independence from England. Paine understood that to make his argument resonate he needed to appeal to the public in a manner that had yet to be done.
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in it’s best state, is but a necessary evil, in its worst state an intolerable one” (Paine 69). Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense, conveys and persuades each individual in the thirteen colonies to fight for independence. He reflects on the government, religion and more specifically colonial situations. Paine’s ethos, imagery, logos, anecdote, and simile in the pamphlet supports his point of independence and why the thirteen colonies should stand up against Great Britain.
I feel that Paine’s arguments appeal more to passion and emotion rather than reason and logic, simply in the opening statement he says that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her. That is a statement mostly based on emotion rather than true facts, simply put America wouldn’t have been where it is at that point if it had not been for the British, the French, and the Spanish. The colonists wouldn’t have arrived and they would have left the natives to their own doing, it is unclear whether the natives would have moved from hunting and gathering towards planting and domestication without the Europeans. “The idea that without the British the Americans would have flourished can
Throughout time, events such as wars and assassinations have occurred that people today can describe as “a turning point in history”. However, not all turning points in history have to be wars, assassinations, etc. In fact, perhaps everybody acknowledges that Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense is a “turning point in history” because it inspired the United States Revolutionary War. Common Sense, a pamphlet, can be credited as to inciting the American Colonies to revolt against Great Britain. However, how could a mere pamphlet concerning such a complex and complicated issue ignite The United States to a major turning point? By focusing on trade sanctions imposed on the United States by Great Britain and insisting the United States could have a better Navy than Great Britain while writing in an easy to read style that emphasizes key words by capitalizing or italicizing, Paine appealed to the average colonist in a way that reinforced the democratic ideals of the early Americans.
If Thomas Paine never published Common Sense Americans today would not only fail to fully grasp the many aspects as to why colonist wanted independence so bad, but it also might have taken American’s many more years before they earned their independence, and it is possible that America may not have ever got its independence. Common Sense was a crucial turn for American’s opinion against Britain. It was key factor in pursue colonies to fight for complete independence. So if Common Sense was never written, American’s today would be oblivious to how the colonist felt back then.
In the tumultuous early months of 1776 a Colonial political theorist named Thomas Paine began anonymously publishing a treasonous pamphlet urging colonists to seek independence from the Crown. The concise volume titled Common Sense advocated a revolution in emphatic yet simple language intended for all levels of Colonial society. Paine was highly successful in appealing to the every man, and Common Sense spread quickly across the country. It was so influential and widely read that it is commonly credited by modern historians as being one of the single most powerful catalysts of the American Revolution, a publication so incendiary that John Adams remarked “without the pen of the author of Common Sense the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”
Paine blatantly states in the pamphlet of Common Sense that monarchy is disapproved by nature, that oppression encompasses the entire space of the old world. He further showed that being in the membership of the British empire was creating burdens and conflicts with other countries, and with gaining independence, America could escape the endless regal wars of
Paine went on to speak in more conventional terms about the specific nature of the conflict. He had anticipated that readers would be startled by his conclusions, and defended against possible objections. Uncertainty in the British Empire, some caused by disturbances in America, was bad for commerce. England would continue to drag Americans into European wars that were not their affair, said Paine, and protect them only when beneficial to themselves. Americans would not require their protection; they already had the means to defend their land. Distance and poor communication across the Atlantic made the centers of government remote from the colonists. Common Sense stressed the need for and the power of unity among the American
Thomas wrote Common Sense in 1775 and published it in early 1776 to “set forth his arguments in favor of American independence (History.com).” This pamphlet played an important role in advocating the colonies’ independence from Britain by “transforming a colonial squabble into the American Revolution (History.com).” Had it not been for the use of literary devices in the pamphlet, there would be an unconvincing pamphlet which could mean no American Revolution. One type of literary device that Paine used in his pamphlet was alliteration and he used this in the consecutive text. “In order to gain a clear and just idea of the design and end of government, let us suppose a small number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the earth. (Paine 2).”Another type of literary device that Paine used in his