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Declaration Of Independence Comparison

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Comparing Common Sense and The Declaration of Independence Good morning! You may have read Thomas Paine's “Common Sense” and even know or have a loose understanding of what the Declaration of Independence is, but do you know what events led to their writing? According to Timetoast.com, on Mrch 15th, 1765 the English passed the Stamp Act, which places a tax on all paper items such as “newspapers, playing cards, and other items.” Two years later, according to History.com, the Townshend Duties were passed, “placing a tax on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea imported into the colonies.” The article goes on to say that on March 5th, 1770 an event called the Boston Massacre occurred. “A squad of British soldiers, come to support a sentry who was …show more content…

The second similarity between "Common Sense" and the Declaration of Independence is the pervading theme of the many offenses Great Britain committed against the American colonies. The Declaration of Independence contains a lengthy list of the many American rights that King George III violated. Jefferson describes King George as "a Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant." Thomas Paine describes the British king in a similar, unflattering manner. He said King George was a "crowned ruffian who hath little more to do than to make war and give away places." The final, and most significant, similarity between the Declaration of Independence and "Common Sense" is the idealistic way that both documents describe the future government of America. In the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson says, "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness." Jefferson implied with that statement that the new type of democratic republic created by the American colonies would be a just, citizen-centered government opposite of the tyrannical government of Britain. Thomas Paine makes similar claims in "Common Sense" saying that, "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind...we have in our power to begin the world again." Therefore, states that both of these documents had many similarities between them both which declares the independence from Great Britain and the description of

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