Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense on January 10, 1776 in which he put forth many effective and assuring reasons as to why the colonies should fight for complete independence from the king’s rule and no longer conform to a significantly smaller island thousands of miles across the sea. Around the time when this argumentative piece was published, tensions with Britain were at their peak and colonies were extremely agitated with the number of taxes and trade restrictions imposed on them. Additionally, British soldiers had been great nuisances to American people as they occupied our towns and ultimately prohibiting the colonies from ever progressing. As Britain kept tightening its grip on the colonies, Thomas Paine, one of the many …show more content…
Colonial frustration had been present in the “New World” for quite some time and can even be traced back to the French and Indian War in 1763. The British demonstrated their power and began to tax the colonies in order to pay off the costs of the war. This eventually led to the Townshend acts in 1767 in which Parliament placed new taxes on the colonies and while the Townshend acts were repealed, Britain kept piling new acts on the colonies such as the Tea act. Come 1770, colonists were extremely frustrated began to demonstrate the first acts of rebellion against Britain, the Boston Tea Party. Boston colonists, in 1773, boarded a ship owned by the British East India Company dumping over 92,000 pounds of tea into the Harbor. This event signified the colonists finally decided it was time to fight back against the …show more content…
Paine states that the perfect time to separate from Britain is now, for America possesses “the largest body of armed and disciplined men”, the capability to raise a navy with the ability to of rival the British, and no national debt (Paine, 17). For many years, Britain was deemed as an extremely powerful force. However, Paine is presenting to the American people that they are powerful too and actually have the abilities to take on the British. Also, due to fact that the British navy was seen as undefeatable, the idea that they could be defeated by the same people they took over was very significant to the colonists. Additionally, Paine states that the colonies should break away from Britain now because Britain would no longer be able to inhabit any more land from the continent therefore, the colonies could unite and decide what to do with the westward land themselves. Paine also states that if the colonies remained under Britain’s rule, the population would only increase and were we more populated, “we might be less united” (Paine, 21). If such an event happens people will become less cooperative and not as willing to work together towards a goal of independence. Thomas Paine simply reassures the colonists that they do have the capabilities to break free from the world’s largest
In January 1776, people were still unsure if they really wanted to fight for independence from Britain. But this opinion quickly changed when a pamphlet called Common Sense appeared in Philadelphia. The author of this pamphlet was Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine was an English artisan and coffeehouse intellectual who had come to America in the fall of 1774. Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense with the encouragement of members of the Second Continental Congress, to justify the fight for independence.
In the Declaration of Independence, it is said that “They are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). This shows the people of the colonies that they have the right to be free from all ties binding them to the British, so there is no reason to not gain independence. Thomas Paine says that “God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction…who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war” (Paine). Paine is proving to the American colonists that they should unite against the British by telling them that God will not let them all die because they did try to avoid the war at
Thomas Paine: Common Sense Thomas Paine writes his pamphlet during the American Revolution which served as an inspiration for the American colonists to free themselves from Britain. Paine firmly believes that independence from Britain is needed; America should be a free port and lose all ties from Britain. He reasons that the current constitution is temporary and a new one should be formed.
“It is foolish to be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or petition. Waiting four or five months for an answer, which when obtained requires five or six more to explain it” Paine is frustrated by a time lag to ask for king and parliament to address their opinions. So if the colonists formed their own independent country, they would not have to wait for a response from their goverment. The patriots love local control.
In summarization, he says reconciliation will bring ruin because of the British desire to advance at the expense of America and Great Britain’s inability to protect or govern the colonies due to its distance from the continent (page 36-40). By providing numerous logical responses to arguments opposing the formation of America into its own state, Paine assures worries common among colonists, gaining even more advocates for American
“It is wholly owing to the Constitution of the people, and not to the constitution of the government that the crown is not as oppressive in England as in Turkey.” We should give power to someone who is fair and not self-centered. Paine stated “from the errors of other nations, let us learn wisdom” to advise us to avoid repeating the past in the future from learning about bad past experiences. Paine argued for American’s separation from England by comparing the Kings that Great Britain has had to what a government should be
In his discussion, Paine argues out that apart from gaining international respect, America would advance its own security and commerce by being able to trade with other partners in Europe and the globe. He mentions that all Europe should benefit from America’s goods not only Britain. He explains that by saying British are not the only people who settled the continent but different parts of Europe, so British should not be the only European country to benefit from the colonies. As a result of all the reasons above, the colonies needed no reason to continue submitting to Britain authority and should gain their
Paine stated that when the colonies finally succeed in obtaining their freedom from Britain, America would benefit from trade with other countries. However, obtaining freedom would be difficult because many countries did not want freedom for the colonies. Many countries in Europe wanted to get a piece of America for themselves. The global significance of the American struggle for independence was human rights and freedom. 3.
Paine is against America having a connection with Britain and a single person having power. As Paine expresses, King George III is not and should not be able to be in power of the colonists because mankind is created to be equal and therefore kings should be “disapproved by nature” (Paine 217). Not only does Paine express his anger at the topic of a ruler for all, he also voices that America is connected to whatever Britain does and whatever problems Britain has: implying that America has no say what so ever under Britain (Paine 218). Paine is suggesting that Britain is not only hurting but also is subordinating America and its colonies, so a declaration of independence is in need.
Christopher Troyer Mrs. Foster ACP US History 19 September 2017 Two Men, One Idea The Declaration of Independence and Common Sense may have more in common than you think. Thomas Jefferson was a well educated man with a background in law. He attended the Second Continental Congress where he wrote The Declaration of Independence.
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 had successfully contributed to the declaration of independence and his 47-page pamphlet, “Common Sense”, impacted numerous Americans. “Common Sense” allowed citizens of the colony to
Though Thomas Paine was not well liked by all in his adopted country, his words fueled the revolution, convincing a majority of the uncertain colonists as to the best course of action (“Common”). The colonies were not uncertain for nothing, for it was no small task to rebel against England, one of the world’s greatest powers at the time. In spite of this fact, Common Sense laid out a logical argument against the holds of colonialism and inspired the colonists in the New World to revolution. A foundation for Paine’s future writings, Common Sense and these later works, most notably the American Crisis pamphlet, boosted the morale of the patriots during the heat of the Revolutionary War (Adam).
He did get his message through to the American colonists. “Common Sense sold extremely well, and this prompted The Declaration of Independence (1776). Thomas Paine gives three reasons in his text “Common Sense” (1776) as to why the colonists should take up their arms against Great Britain. First, Britain’s enemies are our enemies.
The pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine was written in 1776. This pamphlet convinced colonists that they didn’t need to remain loyal to the King. There were 7 basic arguments brought about in Common Sense. First, Paine illuminates the idea that it is ridiculous to think that an island nation in Europe should be able to successfully drive policy for a continent that is thousands of miles away. Next, Paine discusses the identity of the colonies and that the colonies aren’t totally British anymore, they diversified with many people of different ethnic backgrounds.