Thomas Paine As A Transcendentalist View Of Freedom

In the eighteenth century there was a mix of opposition of independence, and a hope that the new nation would become a home of freedom. Thomas Paine’s argument was that America needs to gain independence from England. Some of the reasons Paine wrote Common Sense is because of unnecessary wars, monarchial government, and the way Britain treated America. Regardless of Paine’s popularity with Common Sense, Jonathan Boucher was a minister who explained his opposition of the revolutionary movement in his sermons. He believed if God wanted America to be independent it would have happened, and it is our duty as citizens to obey the laws because we will be disobedient to God. The plain truth is the past of English monarchy will not bear looking into.

This essay will be discussing and analyzing the document: Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine was an American founding father and very influential in the the enlightenment movement that started in 1714. Thomas Paine wrote common sense so people would begin thinking and discussing the way the British had been treating the colonies in the recent years. Paine believed that King George and the British parliament were tyrannical and that the colonies should do something about it. Common Sense appealed to many of the colonists because of the plain language Thomas Paine used. Thomas paine’s Common Sense was one of the most influential documents to the American Revolution. This essay also tries to argue that without Paine’s Common Sense the

Thomas Paine, a British-American political writer, intellectual, and strong advocate of the American Revolution, published several compelling pamphlets in the mid-late 18th century inspiring colonists to rebel against the British government. One of his most influential works, Common Sense (1776), would eventually become the most widely-read political non-fiction of its time. Samuel Adams would later declare that “without the pen of [Thomas Paine], the sword of Washington would be raised in vain.” In Common Sense, Paine powerfully argues that colonists must declare independence from Britain in order to establish a representative democracy founded upon their religious and political beliefs.

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. In his quote,  “For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have the right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others forever, and tho'

Written by Thomas Paine in 1791, the book “Rights of Man” soughts to describe the characteristics of America. Although he did include some accurate descriptions of America in his writing, considering the time the book was written and the fact that he was a revolutionary and a supporter of American independence, there are some descriptions that do not concur with the current-day America and some descriptions that are biased as well.

“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind” (Paine 1). With the Revolutionary War beginning in 1775, and the publication of Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, only a year later, this statement was widely recognized and addressed the issue at hand: the fight for independence. According to Paine’s assertion, America’s desire for peace and freedom is a basic necessity of life; it is what all men desire. Despite this innate thirst for liberty, many residents of America’s thirteen colonies were fearful of Great Britain, and because of this fear, complied with Great Britain’s every whim. Consequently, most colonists were hesitant to fight against the mother country for independence. But Paine would not accept this attitude.

He says that people have a duty to civil disobedience; however, civil disobedience is not always enough to change anything in the government. One of his claims of fact is that he describes the American government as expedient, convenient and practical, but improper or immoral. A government that is okay with slavery is not a government he wants to be a part of. These claims of value are what Thoreau believes are necessary to instill in the American people. In opposition to this Thoreau also claims that people are usually too slow in making changes to the government, they need to act faster before things get worse. He advises the reader to just go at it and try to change what they find corrupt about the government, whether that be slavery, or paying unjust

Thomas Paine’s influential essays, titled The Rights of Man and Common Sense, argue that humans are born with natural rights. Paine views human natures as essentially good, but capable of evil. In order to contain this evil there needs to exist an over-arching institution that would provide stability and peace. Paine argued that the government would play this role. However, he viewed the government as a necessary evil. He writes, “society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness by positively uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices”. The government’s sole purpose is to protect the “life, liberty, and property” of humans, and as such, it will be judged exclusively on its ability to accomplish this purpose. Paine saw monarchy and hereditary rule as illegitimate, as it

When Thoreau was writing this essay, he had a certain audience in mind. The audience is the white men, the tax payers. In 1849 when Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience, only white men of means paid taxes. This meant that only white men were eligible to vote and only white men held the power to affect change in the government.. Thoreau was a man that believed he should not have to pay taxes because he had absolutely zero say as to where his tax money was being sent and what it was being used for. The reason this was important to Thoreau was because he did not want to be funding specific things like the killing of people in the Mexican war and slavery which were happening at the time. Thoreau, instead

Common Sense was an important stepping stone towards independence. Thomas Paine was a person who advocated and supported egalitarian principles. He believed that all people are equal and deserved equal rights and opportunities. Thomas goal was to influence to people in the Thirteen Colonies to stand for independence from Great Britain. The thirteen colonies were a group of British colonies on the east coast of North America. The thirteen colonies were: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Caroline, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Throughout the excerpts of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” he makes many compelling points on why America during that time was in the perfect position for independence. In the first paragraph Paine writes about how the economy of the colonies could thrive if they were not under the rule of the Britain. He makes points on how if America was not limited in trade by Britain and the colonies had its own legislative branch the economy would be a lot stronger. In the second paragraph Thomas Paine talks about how in the past if the colonies tried to rebel their military would not have been ready but during the time “Common Sense” was written the American military was ready. Another factor in why Paine supported Colonist independence was because it was

On January 10, 1776 (during the American Revolution) Thomas Paine published a pamphlet titled “Common Sense”. In this he sets his arguments in favor of American independence, the pamphlet was written in clear and persuasive prose. It inspired people in the Thirteen colonies to declare and fight for egalitarian government from Great Britain and because of this the pamphlet was an immediate sensation. The pamphlet was originally published anonymously and was one of the most influential pamphlets in America. “Common Sense” also played a major role in shaping a colonial squabble into the American Revolution. When Paine wrote “Common Sense” many colonist considered themselves to be “aggrieved Britons”. Paine wanted the whole world to be free, his

Paine, Thomas, and Sidney Hook. Common Sense: The Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine. New York: Penguin, 1984. Print.

Thomas Paine essentially wrote Common Sense for the common man. Being a pamphlet, its structure and simplicity made reading easy for those who were literate. Its minimalism enabled citizens in the colonies to unite under one common cause — independence against Britain. He was inspired by both John Locke’s The Second Treatise of Government as well as Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s On the Social Contract. Each of the philosophies discussed the purpose of government as well as which government was the most ideal. For Paine, government, is “a punisher,” in which society is ruled by in order to protect the properties of one’s natural rights (Paine 3). However, he defends a representative democracy as being the ideal. Likewise, John Locke also argues that governments protect the rights of man. Similarly, to

Thesis: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense articulated the anti-British sentiments of the Colonies in a way so unprecedented that it permanently changed the face of political thought in America.