Thomas Paine Revolutionary War Project Brandon Myers Mountain View 11-20-15 Thomas Paine was an early English American writer and pamphleteer whose writings such as common sense helped the people of the colony to realize that separation from Britain was a good idea. His papers and pamphlets helped lead to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Common sense one of his most influential pieces was a piece that stated that independence was much needed from Britain. Thomas Paine an English American writer born in England moved to America to write. While in America, Paine wrote many papers and pamphlets some which had the concept of separation from the British.
Thomas Paine, a man who is responsible for some of the most influential writing during the colonial period of the seventeen-hundreds. Thomas Paine was born in Britain, in January 1737 and moved to America in the year 1774 shortly before the start of the Revolutionary war on April 19th 1775. Soon after the first major battle in the war Thomas wrote his most famous work, a pamphlet titled “Common Sense”. The purpose of this pamphlet was to persuade anyone who might be undecided on whether or not they wanted to break free from the oppression of the British government. Thomas wanted the American people to fight for more than just freedom from British taxation, he believed that they could gain or independence.
Thomas Paine, a local pamphleteer in the pre-Revolutionary War era, wrote a convincing pamphlet to any colonists who were not already supporting the war for independence from Great Britain. In his argument, Paine uses rhetorical strategy, an emotional aspect, and divine revelation towards the citizens to create a very moving, passionate, and convincing call to arms. The first line, “These are the times that tried men 's souls,” is one of relatability and preparedness for the oncoming difficult times. Paine starts his essay off with a refutation of his argument, stating that although he wants this fight, he knows it will be tough. Paine then challenges the men’s bravery and patriotism to their country by stating the line “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country.”
Low on morale, Thomas Paine wrote 18 pamphlets in a series called The American Crisis that tries to inspire the soldiers to stay and fight. These pamphlets highlight key points that inspired the Americans to fight the British. “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriots will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country. ”(Paine, 1776)
Thomas Paine was one of the best known political philosopher and pamphleteer back during the 18th century. “Common Sense” was the first published pamphlet that proclaimed the independence of America and one of his most famous piece of work. How did Thomas Paine influence the declaration of independence by writing “Common Sense”? “Common Sense” convinced a great amount of moderates to become patriots, additionally, some loyalist were persuaded by his writing. Also, he was able to express his feelings and wrote in a way that people commonly spoke.
Due to his many experiences while living in Great Britain, he grew a desire to fight for the oppressed and often questioned the authority the British Monarchy had over the American colony. Thomas Paine wrote an influential Pamphlet “Common Sense” a scathing attack on the monarchial tyranny over the American colony and the significance of American independence. Thomas Paine’s ideas in this pamphlet were not original, however were more accessible to the masses due to the clear and direct way he wrote. His pamphlet helped to inspire The Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence contains a list of grievances against King George III and justifications for the assertion of the right for independence.
Thomas Paine shows the horror and tragedy that numerous amounts of colonists went through during the Revolutionary War. Many laws and taxes on colonists such as Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and an abundant amount of other laws that took money from the colonist and they were raving. During this time, Thomas Paine was furious with British rules and was most likely trying to convince and encourage colonists to fight. Thomas Paine was persuading the colonists to fight back from the laws and taxes that made their lives a struggle and they fought and fought. Thomas Paine was an influential writer during the American Revolution, his pamphlet, “Common Sense” and his other writings had influenced many colonists.
“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.
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.
Before this many Colonists did not know of the harsh injustices done by the British. They also did not believe that the cause for revolution was urgent. Thomas Paine showed them that the cause was urgent by explaining the wrongs the British had committed and why King George was a tyrant. He also showed them that America did not need the British Empire 's protection. This quote shows his reasoning “Small islands, not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.”
In the winter of 1776, during American Revolution, the still young America faced three major dilemmas: their seemingly imminent defeat, the moral debate between the Whigs and the British loyalists, and the panic and confusion of the American public. In efforts to settle the three American dilemmas, Thomas Paine wrote The Crisis No. 1 in December of 1776. In his work, Paine aimed to calm the American public and convince them to stand up to the British, and turn the war into an American victory. Paine was very successful in this, and his paper was proclaimed as one of the most persuasive works of the American Revolution. Paine’s
In his document, The Crisis, Number 1, Thomas Paine argues that the American colonists should go and fight for the freedom that they want. Thomas Paine supports this cause by explaining to the colonists that they should have that same mind set no matter what it is. Paine’s purpose is to persuade with emotion in order to get the colonists to feel the need to go and fight for the freedom of the developing country against the British. Thomas Paine uses a formal tone to engage with the emotions of the colonists using rhetorical devices. Paine in his writing likes to use a lot of charged words throughout his writing.
It was extremely important for Paine to persuade the colonist to continue the war for American independence. He used pathos by using a parent’s love for their children against them to convince the army to continue on with the war. By way of example, when Paine is talking about a tori and patriotic father “finished with this unfatherly expression ‘Well! Give me peace in my day…’ and a generous parent should have said ‘If there must be trouble let it be in my day; that my child may have peace’ and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient enough to awaken every man to duty” (Paine 109).
The Declaration of Independence is an extremely important document to the United States. Thomas Jefferson receives the most credit for writing the declaration, however he was assisted by five other men that were apart of the Constitutional Congress. They wrote the declaration to persuade the colonist to break free from Britain. The Declaration of Independence uses numerous persuasive appeals and language, including parallelism, pathos, and ethos. Parallelism is “a pattern in writing in which words and phrases are similar in structure, one echoing another.”
He was a French philosopher who wrote the Age of Enlightenment about freedom, and democracy. Much of his writing made the aristocracy and monarchies furious because he was going against them. His ideas influenced people in the American Revolution and even the French Revolution. Thomas Paine was influenced by Voltaire in writing the Common Sense pamphlet. The ideas in his writing influenced the line in the second paragraph “all men are created equal” and also the 1st amendment about religion and freedom in the Declaration of Independence (Unknown 4).
