The most iconic moment in our nation’s history is the American Revolution, when the thirteen colonies declared their independence from their patron country of Great Britain. Many great and brilliant people were involved with the development of the revolution, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. But two individuals in their writings held much influence towards the beginning of the revolution. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine were two prolific writers before, during and after the American Revolution. And while they both share similar ideologies and were very influential to the American Revolution, their approaches and their ends differ in more than just age. Despite having ties to Britain, with Franklin having lived in Britain and courted his future wife and Paine being born and raised in the British society, both were advocates for the separation between the colonies and Great Britain. They both ended up serving vital roles during the revolution. Franklin was already recognizable thanks to his previous works and achievements, and served as a diplomat in the early stages of the …show more content…
Paine came to Philadelphia in his mid-thirties and became a journalist (Blythe). It was during his occupation as a journalist that he began to anonymously publish his pamphlet, Common Sense. It proved to be a critical success, as relations with Britain was at an all time low, and Common Sense pushed the colonies even further into wanting to separate from Britain. Paine ended up enlisting in the army and during the war, he began producing Crisis, his second wave of pamphlets that served to encourage and bring optimism to the troops. Even George Washington read Crisis to his troops and praised Paine for his work (Baym), before certain events that came later change his views on Paine