His patient recounting of a long list of intolerable acts of the King portrayed the dangerous and rash prospect of a rebellion as their only option and a sacred duty all colonists had to each other. Thomas Jefferson begins the Declaration by asserting the then radical notion that the government serves the people instead of accepting the concept that colonial citizens should serve their King. He then declares that
Thomas Paine was an English-born theorist and writer. He withheld an important voice in the revolution, using his common sense and beliefs to help build America's roots as he fought for independence against Britain, Paine has been known as the ‘voice of the revolution’ for this. He voiced is thoughts and beliefs in writings, specifically his piece called Common Sense. Common Sense was an opinionated piece that informed people of their freedom they are being deprived of, and to push for this freedom; their natural rights. He wanted separation between the colonists and Britain.
To what extent did Thomas Paine’s Common Sense promote the movement for independence in the USA from 1776 to 1783? The pamphlet, Common Sense influenced and encouraged Americans to fight for independence from Britain. Paine wrote in simple English so the masses could understand. The pamphlet served as a big push towards independence because it gave reasons why America should split from British rule, such as taxes, the unfair monarchy and that independence is inevitable but when is the question. He provided alternative solutions to governing, a republican government and a constitution.
During the Enlightenment period, many thinkers shared their ideas about society, Thinkers like John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote books to spread their ideas against the Old Order. First, John Locke believed everyone had natural rights. These natural rights were life,liberty,and property. The main purpose of the government would be to protect these rights. Locke influenced important people such as Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry presented the idea of fighting against Great Britain for liberty, which Great Britain had suppressed the American colonists for years. Freedom and liberty were necessary for the colonists of the Thirteen Colonies to feel like individual people. Every person should be able to decide the action they would take and the responsibilities they would have. This speech was remarkable and memorable for the start of the bold actions that changed the world forever. Patrick Henry persuade the colonist to fight the British government by using his strong voice as a weapon.
The concept of Enlightenment, as defined by Immanual Kant and John Locke, provided influence to the emergence of societies where individual thought and social equality were enabled. As such, the theory has had significant historical influence especially in advocating human rites. Uprisings such as The French and American Revolutions are embedded with the Enlightenment ideology for liberation to the people. Both uprisings evolved due to the suppression of the people by the ruling parties, much like the Fascist dictatorship that was condoned by Musolini. Similar historical events have seen, and still see, mankind embrace Enlightenment concepts and fight for their freedom and prevail over a government based oppression.
But it would not do justice to the work if one limits its influence to American nationalism and independence. Paine had two main points: 1) gaining independence from Britain and 2) forming a democratic republic. His arguments to support the two points centered on democracy. “This seminal polemic was a fiery and effective condemnation of kings and aristocracy that took the American polity by storm” (Fredriksen 375). He advocated independence from Britain.
Adams was the founder of the Sons of Liberty, a group of merchants, politicians and lawyers, involved in the protest of the Stamp Act. The refusal of the Stamp Act inspired Americans to confront the actions of Britain. Essentially, the Sons of Liberty encouraged the people of America to question the laws being enforced, creating tension between the two involved parties. To conclude, Samuel Adams is among the many factors that allowed the
There were many contributing factors to the cause of the American Revolution. Debate surrounds what sparked the hearts and minds of the colonists to strike free from the British monarchy, yet it all boils down to this: political issues, over economic factors, led to the Revolutionary War. To grasp the reasoning behind this, there are three vital things that must be understood, the relationship and differences between political issues and economic factors, how many issues there really were that involved the economy, and how all the controversies finally merged together to form a final political issue that led to the beginning of the war. To truly gain an understanding of what truly caused the American Revolution, one must divulge the relationship between political issues and economic factors. The term “political issues” refers to quarrels disputed between or within political systems of government.
Because the Magna Carta is a precursor to the Declaration of Independence and is backed up by irrefutable evidence, the conclusion can be drawn that the Declaration of Independence was influenced by the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta, in many ways, facilitated and shaped of the Declaration of Independence as well as being very similar. The Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence were both the result of wars; in America the colonists rebelled against the British, and King John’s nobles rebelled against him in England. Both of these documents exercised the idea that there should be limitations on the power of the government and the people should dissolve an insufficient government if it oversteps those limitations. Both documents also explicitly state “all men are created equal” and should be treated equally for that reason.