American Independence In Thomas Paine's The Crisis

In the light of an Enlightenment era radical ideas were nothing new, however radical ideas against the British government (and the european lifestyle in general) were dangerous. The founders were directly influenced by the enlightenment, Thomas Jefferson even had paintings of Locke, Bacon, and Newton in his home. The Colonists of that day, especially the learned men were raised to believe that founding a government was one of the greatest things a person could do. Thomas Paine wrote “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” The American revolution started as an Enlightenment movement, guided by Enlightenment principles, and brought about by the Children of the Enlightenment.

Henry states that the delegates call for peace, yet there is no peace. The speaker presents his claim as an opinion of the colonies, which convinces the delegates that they must fight for their freedom and rights. He also shows the relevancy of his assertion through the lack of peace between the two opposing governments. The hostility between the nations is a result of the colonies attempting to create peace but failing due to being disrespected by the British. The speaker believes that the audience should fight for their freedom and defends his argument by repeatedly unifying them as a group.

In the beginning, Paine brings up the lack of laws and civility in the colonies. Paine states, “The Continental Belt is too loosely buckled. And if something is not done in time, it will be too late to do anything, and we shall fall into a state, in which, reconciliation nor independence will be practicable.” He writes about the importance of declaring independence and not conceding to the British and attempting to reconcile. Paine continues by criticizing the Quakers.

In Thomas Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence,” he uses rhetorical devices to convey his purpose which is to say that colonies have decided to break their bond with the King and Great Britain and to explain their reasoning. One of the devices used the most to convey his purpose was parallelism. Jefferson also uses repetition to make his reasons clear. Some might think that his use of restatement further makes his points clear; however, they are wrong. Jefferson uses rhetorical devices like parallelism and repetition to explain the reasonings of the Colonists decision to break their bonds with the King and Britain.

Also I will be including the battles of the war and why it was important, and last, what was the importance of the war. The war happened because the colonists wanted freedom and Independence. Freedom was everything they wanted especially Independence. Great Britain didn’t give the colonists freedom because they thought they wouldn’t be independent and get along with Great Britain.

The colonists no longer considered it be a virtuous government. As Thomas Paine said, “Government is, or at least should be, designed to “supply the deflect of moral virtue”. It is evident that in the years 1774 to 1776 that British government had become corrupt and they were forcing laws upon the colonists that they did not have the authority to do. By enforcing these laws without giving the colonists proper representation in Parliament the British government had infringed on the colonist’s rights to life, liberty, and

“It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to god and our country” (Henry) during the time the speech was written, the colonist were trying to be separate from Britain. People wanted out of British laws, but had fear of fighting war. The colonist struggled with no money for an army nor the support to create one. In Patrick Henry’s, “Speech to Virginia convention ” he primarily used pathos to persuade the audience to stand up and fight.

Paine portrays the terrible iron-fist of the British king on the American colonists. King George treated these colonists with no respect through his policies such as the Tea Act and the Quartering Act, a law that stated that American colonists had to hold English soldiers if asked to. The men and women were so unwilling to let the tiny island of Britain rule over them and scare an entire nation. This fright caused Patrick Henry, a writer and advocate for the revolution, to revolt and unite many colonists against the British. In one of Henry’s writings is the idea that a nation should not have to try to win back the love of the colonist by force.

In the late 19th century the U.S. got possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines and the Anti-imperialist league were people who disagreed with U.S. 's colonial expansion and how it was becoming an imperial power. Both Moorfield Storey and Carl Schurz were Anti-imperialist. Storey believed that a country 's worth should not be measured by its might or size rather it should be measured by its moral standing. Carl Schurz believed that fake patriots always call for war but are unwilling to fight it, they do it just so they can be called brave and patriots. The War prayer was the antiwar piece that was written by mark twain.

The colonists may have refused to accept the responsibilities of being Englishmen, however, the American colonists were reasonably justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain. The increasing distrust of and resentment toward British officials, the unfair and oppressive taxes imposed by Parliament on the colonists, and the restriction of colonial freedoms all contribute to the colonists’ justification of secession from Great Britain. Some may believe the colonists’ rebellion against British authority was not justified. The British Parliament had appropriate motives for imposing the laws they did on the colonists in the 1760s. The Seven Years’ War was “a war undertaken for [the colonists’] defense only,” to which Britain had devoted a large proportion of its resources.

Therefore it is because of that that I support the colonies decision to be independent. Some people may be against the colonies independence because in order to be independent a war has to occur which means lives would be lost. Yet, I believe that either way lives are in danger of being lost whether the colonies seek independence or not because the colonies lack of protection will lead to lives lost. Therefore it is important for the colonies to seek independence.

Reading 1, Question 1: Thomas Jefferson begins the Declaration of Independence discussing why sometimes it is necessary to disband political ties with another party or nation on the grounds of both the laws of nature and of God. The first reason he gives defending the Colonies’ right to revolt is that whenever a government becomes caustic to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the responsibility of the people to end this rule and replace it with a new one. He states the these governments should not be revolted against unless there is dire need as in the instant of his second reason for rebellion- after a long series of abuse and neglect again demand a new government to provide security from said abuses. Jefferson repeatedly mentions

It points out how the Patriots desire for independence goes against their ways of not giving freedom to thousands of slaves. All in all, the war demonstrated the democratic ideals of the Patriots while showing how many Patriots went against their own fighting reason by owning slaves. There fighting reason would be to gain independence and freedom. However, they did not give these rights to others, as you can see this in the Connecticut Slaves Petition for Freedom. As important as the war was, there were some flaws in the way many of the Patriots

These boycotts against British shipping were the best manner for the colonists to demonstrate their distain for British rule. In Virginia, the boycott of the ports was a significant move that ultimately pushed the citizens in the area towards independence. The other cause that pushed the gentry to revolution stemmed from the unforeseen consequences of their boycott of British shipping. This would result in their protests of 1774 turning into the revolutionary movement of 1775 up until the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that ended the war, giving independence to the United States (Holton xviii). Referred to as Non-exportation, this protest was directly against the Coercive Acts that Parliament adopted for the colonies (Holton 124).

Americans drew the last straw and built stronger nationalism to fight even though the United States was severely unprepared for war. The Americans were willing to go to war to proudly defeat