Thomas Paine's Common Sense And American Revolution

In December of 1776, in the midst of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine, an audacious and rebellious persuasive writer living in the American colonies, gathered the attention of fellow colonists, militiamen, and military generals through his controversial opinions and creative writing style, particularly illustrated in his essay, “The Crisis No. 1.” Paine, a dauntless supporter of the revolution, wrote his essay urging colonists to join the fight and earn their freedom through battle. In order to construct his eloquent and compelling essay, he used an impressive combination of the persuasive techniques; rhetorical appeal, figurative language, and tone.

Thomas Paine claims in Common Sense that the people living in America do not need to tolerate the oppression from their British overlords. His main purpose for writing this pamphlet was to expose the injustice of the British towards the Americans and to persuade those who still believed that the British were either needed or were beneficial for the Americans in 1776. Paine values the idea that the Americans need to revolt against their evil ,oppressive, monarchical rulers in Britain and to establish pure democracy in the Thirteen Colonies. Paine writes from the perspective of an equal to his fellow American man, thus making him relatable from common folk to the wealthy merchants and upper classes. Paine shows the British tyranny over America as horrific and he wishes to expose British faults and impurities to inspire the colonists

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.

Although Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense to express displeasure towards the british regime, his greater purpose was to rally the colonist against the tyranny of the mother country, therefore establishing inalienable rights that would become the groundwork of the United States.

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is a pamphlet that was written in 1775-76. Paine’s purpose for this writing was to be an encouragement to the general people of the thirteen colonies to seek declaration of their independence from Great Britain. Paine’s desire to connect with the common people is evident in his plain and easy to understand writing style; he wrote in an educated, but straight-forward manner. Dubbed a “political quack” by Loyalist, James Chalmers of Maryland in the Plain Truth (New), and accused of producing a “crapulous mass” by none other than John Adams, we see just two examples of the many attacks on Paine, who prevailed to

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.

In result of The Seven Years’ War Britain controlled American trade and territory. In order to pay for the expenses of the war several taxation acts and military presence were implemented such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Currency Act, Quartering Act and the presence of British troops at the colonies. Consequently, Americans who thought these actions violated their political and constitutional liberties opposed these policies with petitions, boycotts, and resistance strategies known as the Imperial Crisis. In January 1776 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was composed to convince Americans of the need for independence from British rule and establishment of democracy. This pamphlet

Scott Liell’s book 46 pages: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, and the Turning Point to Independence ultimately describes Thomas Paine’s life and showcases the struggles he went through and the outside forces that influenced him to write Common Sense. Liell’s book also expresses the importance of Common Sense, stating that it is the “single most influential political work in American history” (16). Paine was born and raised in England, in which the King and his monarchial rule would have evident influence in his later

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is a major document of American history written between 1775-76. In this, Paine argues for the independence of the colonies. He begins his argument with general reflections about government and religion. He then specifies issues that dealt with the colonies.

Thomas Paine was responsible for some of the most influential works of the revolution. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was a very crucial part to America and its movement of independence from Britain. Paine was effective with his writings by being very plain. He wanted both farmers and officials to understand what he was talking about and be able to comprehend his ideas. Paine wanted to put his ideas out to the people of the American colonies so that they could understand it just by reading and not have to analyze and decipher what he was really trying to get across. He wanted to let the colonist know that there was no more room for talking about a split from English rule but it was time for the colonies to unite and take up arms against their British oppressors.

Unequivocally one of the most historically and culturally-significant pieces of literature, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense has been meticulously analyzed for its effectiveness in eliciting the reaction that Paine himself intended in 1776. At the forefront of Paine’s pamphlet is “Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs,” notable for its first sentence: “In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple, facts, plain arguments, and commonsense” (7). Within, Paine “elaborates” on three main points that strengthen the option of independence: the effects of British rule on the colonies; the plausible relationship with Britain upon reconciliation; and the actual role of England as a parent country as opposed to England’s optimal role. However, upon analysis of the text, I discerned that Paine does not develop his main points to the extent that he does his almost-propaganda-like statements regarding England. Despite this, adding historical knowledge to Common Sense can help one corroborate Paine’s views to an extent. Overall, when expressing his views on the colonies’ relationship with England, possible results of reconciliation, and England as a parent country, Paine does not elaborate, but information regarding the Navigation Acts and mercantilism can assist one in understanding the significance of Common Sense.

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.

​Thomas Paine's Common Sense is a seminal piece of American literature and American history; arguably it's the most important piece. Paine wrote Common Sense in 1775-1776, and it's theme was to spread his political beliefs. He wanted American independence from the British monarchy. The pamphlet was anonymously released on January 10th, 1776, and it explained to the reader why the colonies needed to rebel against their British oppressors. It was sold far and wide across the colonies, and it was successful; it inspired many of the soldiers during the initial summer of rebellion in 1776. The whole idea of the pamphlet revolves around persuading the reader to side with the rebels in their valiant fight for independence, and he absolutely uses contemporary persuasive techniques in his writing. He uses facts about the present, he looks towards the future, and he uses religion to persuade his readers. In fact, it's a testament to how the act of persuasion has been very similar over the last 238

As the year 1776 began in the American colonies, tension with King George III’s England was at perhaps an all-time high.  Americans were frustrated with the actions of their rulers overseas.  Taxes and trade restrictions had been placed on them, and British and mercenary soldiers occupied their towns and cities.  There had even been fighting at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.  As America grew, England’s hold on it tightened, and a few voices began speaking of independence.  The loudest and most convincing of these belonged to Thomas Paine, born in England and living in Philadelphia.  His pamphlet, Common Sense, expressed the argument for American independence in a way no one had before and had a great influence on the Declaration of

In the work of Thomas Paine, "Common Sense" Paine mentions throughout of the working for a positive government with the idea of equality. Thomas Paine writes different excerpt that give theories and idea with the goal of implementing those ideas into a government that may be just and fair. Paine reflects on the English constitution specifically the crown. Paine also provide an insight to having a higher power to run a government. Paine also criticizes the idea of monarchy and hereditary succession. Complications would ultimately arise through his ideas and theories due to the differences in religions.