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How Did Thomas Paine Support The French Revolution

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Thomas Paine
The great debate, sparked with the controversy of the French Revolution led to a discourse between two great political thinkers in the late eighteenth century. The dispute about whether Burke or Paine were right about their stance on revolution as destruction. While Edmund Burke openly disagreed with the French Revolution, Thomas Paine supported it. Truly, Thomas Paine had a stronger more favorable position with supporting causes that led to a compelling stance.
Thomas Paine grew up in a working class family, this along with other hardships allowed him to be focused on those less fortunate. Not only was Thomas Paine concerned for the poor ,but he also fought for the rights he thought were being stripped away from the lower class. Paine was outraged by the injustices within the government. He believed that the only way to change such an oppressive system was through revolutionary transformation.. Unlike Edmund Burke, who was astonished that the system worked and strongly believed …show more content…

Likewise, he talked about a new type of politics that would arise through the enlightenment. Believing that the government should develop through the enlightenment in order to protect equality and individual liberty. This was a very present issue in 1780s France while many people expressed their depression towards the regime that failed to provide relief. The problem with Burke’s stance on the French Revolution was that he also expressed his support for the American Revolution. How can he support one and not the other? Edmund Burke also failed to notice that the American Revolution neglected to reform slavery. Without the civil war and its “radical” change, as Burke would say, people would still be living under oppressive conditions and their freedom would not be

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Thomas Paine gained his popularity during the Revolutionary War era. During this time people

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The conservative Burke who thought that human beings were not perfectible contrasted significantly with the progressive Condorcet who thought the opposite. Burke was raised in a family with a strong religious background where he and his mother were close in relationship. This led to his compassion towards the Irish Catholics who had limited human rights at that time. He advocated

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The majority of citizens were concerned with the fact that there was a shortage in resources and soldiers for a war. On the other hand, Paine argues that it is not the quantity of materials that will strive America to win, it is the national pride among the citizens that will provide America with the great strength to conquer. Thomas Paine might have been the catalyst for various brawls, but his devotion to national pride and ensuring his voice will be heard is extremely inspiring for the writers of the twenty first

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“Paine 's writings had great influence on his contemporaries, especially the American revolutionaries. John Adams’ prediction that history would attribute the revolution to Paine’s incendiary pamphlets was borne out by Thomas Alva Edison’s The Philosophy of Paine (1925), which remarked that Paine “was the equal of Washington in making America liberty possible. Where Washington performed Paine devised and wrote. The deeds of the one in the Weld were matched by the deeds of the pother with his pen.”

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“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.

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Wollstonecraft and Paine, and Burke had conflicting opinions on which was the better system of governing. Burke believes that divine rule was better because it is the only form of governing he's been under. On the other hand Paine believes the monarchy is irrational and that a republic is a new salvation, which is the idea that Wollstonecraft takes and builds upon. Burke’s argument is that monarchy is needed because man is evil and cannot

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Thomas Paine once said, “But where says some is the King of America? I 'll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain...let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING.” This quote exemplifies that Paine placed greater faith and value on God than he did on a government that consisted of one supreme ruler; as long as America approved a monarchy government, the only standards people pursued were the laws formed by that leader. Because of Paine’s childhood, dislike of monarchies, and belief in strong state governments, it’s evident why he supported anti-federalism. Paine’s upbringing likely influenced his future political beliefs.

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Throughout history, there is a vast majority of opinions solely on one event in history but in order for someone to grasp an idea of something, such as the American Revolution, one has to look and evaluate the different ideas on a historical event. In the case of the American Revolution authors Charles Inglis, Thomas Paine, Howard Zinn, and speaker Patrick Henry had to compare and contrasting ideas. Inglis and Zinn identified the revolution as something that was unnecessary as there are more advantages in staying with Britain and as a result of the revolution there are more problems, while Paine and Henry suggested that the revolution is needed due to the subordination and inflicted pain to the colonists, and King George III not being able

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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.

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Thomas Paine also argues that new times require change and the current generation gets to decide what there life and government looks like. Thomas Paine is right and the French Revolution was a success and it was not a mistake. Thomas Paine justified the violence throughout the French

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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.”

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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

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Human beings are not equal, so hierarchy is natural and essentially to burke a positive consequence from inequality. Additionally, he alleged that a social contract is one that the people of a given society have with their past. Thus, Burke responded to inequality by stating only some people should participate in politics, while others who were adamant for universal suffrage, should not. This belief stemmed from the understanding that only citizens who could set aside time to contribute in politics could. He felt this would eliminate all of the lower working classes, as it was assumed that the upper class were invited for political debate.

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Edmund burke. He is a reactionary. Wants to go back in time. Old institutions are good. Burke is a critique of the enlightenment.

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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).

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