How Did Thomas Paine Contribute To The Enlightenment

Thomas Paine crafted one of the most influential essays of the American Revolution and the era. Paine’s Common Sense, an anonymous, fervent, and pragmatic seventy-seven-page pamphlet, would convince the American people that it was their destiny to declare independence from Britain. Albeit not as well renowned as other Founders, Paine was able to rally Americans around the idea of independence unlike anyone else. The American Revolution and Declaration of Independence are often viewed as the triumph of Enlightenment ideas. Paine’s contribution to this movement is of the utmost significance. Nevertheless, many of Paine’s thoughts seem far from the ideals of the Enlightenment. Diderot described the goal of the Enlightenment as, “All things must

He describes the British in such an unfavorable fashion that it is easy to forget that he once called the isle home. Paine quotes, “But Britain is the parent country, say some. Then more shame upon her conduct. Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon their families; wherefore the assertion, if true, turns to her reproach; but it happens not to be true, or only partly so, and the phrase parent or mother country hath been jesuitically adopted by the king and his parasites…” (Paine 36) as he rebukes the popular idea that the British were a loving parental figure to the colonies. Thomas Paine creates the image of a monstrous Britain looking to prey on the American colonies. The diction is so fanatical and violent that it would certainly stir up some anti-English sentiments among the colonists. Paine recognizes that many Englishmen fled the country to escape the tyranny of the crown and pursue liberty, yet this oppressiveness still exists across the pond. The tyrannical metaphors did not stop there for Paine. A couple pages later he penned, “…I rejected the hardened, sullen tempered Pharaoh of England forever; and disdain the wretch, that with the pretended title of father of his people can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul” (Paine 47) when discussing the beginning of the American revolution. Paine designs a poor image of the British crown and government. His reference back to the times of Pharaohs in Egypt allows the reader to have a different perspective on what it means to a subject of the British. Moreover, this reference displays the servant master relationship that could be used to describe the relationship of Britain and her colonies. Common Sense makes England out to be oppressive, unfair, and in need of reform; thus it is in the best interest of the American colonies to