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Compare And Contrast Jefferson And Thomas Paine

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During the time of the colonies growing and developing, thoughts began to grow about independence from Great Britain. These views caused a lot of tension because every time the British imposed on the freedom of the colonists to do business or to live with privacy, the colonists would object and grow farther away. The weakened position of Great Britain after its defeat in the French and Indian War, the excessive taxation on the colonists, and the ideas of the Enlightenment writers combined to influence the change in sentiment from loyalty to the monarchy to a desire for freedom and independence. The French and Indian war gave the Colonists a whole new opinion of the British. When the British Soldiers came to help assist the colonists fight the French and Indians, they treated the colonists with little respect. The British were very reluctant to …show more content…

Two particular enlightenment thinkers were Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Paine’s main focus in his works was that self-government is possible. He really spoke to the colonists in a way they could understand because he was just like them, meaning he was not well-educated but was able to express his thoughts in a persuasive way that impacted the colonists daily lives. The most important pamphlet he ever wrote was called Common Sense and was read by many people, and was even referenced at the Second Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment while he was writing the Declaration of Independence, along with many other of the Founding Fathers as well. They used the ideas of natural rights, which is life, liberty, and a pursuit of happiness. They listed everything they believed the King was doing wrong, especially objecting to laws that were made more on the personal wishes of the monarch rather than on a solid foundation based on a formal legal code. (Cayton

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