Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine: A Comparative Analysis of Their Views on the French Revolution

The idea of a revolution lingered around the colonies of America and many had mixed opinions of facing their mother country or just being content with the unfair acts that were placed on those who lived in the colonies. Loyalists preferred to live under the unfair acts and wanted to continue to stay united under the king's rule. On the other hand, those that wanted to be free were still wary about a revolution because of the disadvantage that the colonies already had. A Loyalist, Jonathan Boucher, argued the need for a strong government because it was what God would have wanted. In contrast to Boucher’s argument, Thomas Paine, created a pamphlet called Common Sense in January 1776 and focused on the importance of the need for the American

Common Sense was an incendiary document, an attempt to change peoples' minds, influence their opinions, persuade them to want independence and a call to action. In arguing for American independence, Paine criticized the monarchy and argued that people are born into a state of equality. An advocate of natural rights theory, Paine claimed that there are no natural rulers among men (Bill of Rights Institute, 2010). He then proposed a system of representative government for the colonies. Finally, Paine stated his reasons why the time was right for the break from England. The pamphlet was published and widely read (Bill of Rights Institute, 2010). According to Esly Argueta, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence months later, and Common Sense is believed to have greatly influenced support for the cause. The Declaration of Independence was more tranquil and sensible, beginning with an outline of the British and American perception of the purpose of government, then explaining the reasons why the colonies had decided to declare themselves independent and then finishing with a long list of perceived abuses of King George III. Thomas Jefferson uses

Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine were two of the several strongly-opinionated individuals writing back-and-forth in response to what the others were saying about the French Revolution. Burke, a critic, writes first. Paine, a supporter, responds.

During the late 1700's, the colonies and their mother country, Great Britain, were butting heads with immense taxation and the unreasonable laws England placed on the colonies. Thomas Paine was a journalist at the time and published one of his famous works "Common Sense" in 1776. The pamphlet was intended to challenge the British government authority that was overruling the colonial power. The arguments Paine states in Common Sense became some of the deciding factors of the colonies breaking away from Great Britain.

He wrote the influential pamphlet Common Sense, which was an assault on monarchial rule and the American colonies independence from Britain. “Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. ”(Paine) Paine also felt that society as a whole, was produced by our wants, and governed by our wickedness. Paine was once imprisoned in Britain for sedition.

January 1776, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet, that had an Impact on the world as a whole today. When writing the Pamphlet little did Paine know he would have such an impact on how society is run today. “Common Sense” was an outburst not only in Paine's career but for Independence for many others as well. Despite all odds against Paine, Paine was a leader and influenced American colonists to Break apart from the British’s rule. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “Common Sense,” led to the American Revolution, and eventually led to freedom for American Colonists from Great Britain, and paved way for the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Paine was responsible for some of the most influential works of the revolution. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was a very crucial part to America and its movement of independence from Britain. Paine was effective with his writings by being very plain. He wanted both farmers and officials to understand what he was talking about and be able to comprehend his ideas. Paine wanted to put his ideas out to the people of the American colonies so that they could understand it just by reading and not have to analyze and decipher what he was really trying to get across. He wanted to let the colonist know that there was no more room for talking about a split from English rule but it was time for the colonies to unite and take up arms against their British oppressors.

In the tumultuous early months of 1776 a Colonial political theorist named Thomas Paine began anonymously publishing a treasonous pamphlet urging colonists to seek independence from the Crown. The concise volume titled Common Sense advocated a revolution in emphatic yet simple language intended for all levels of Colonial society. Paine was highly successful in appealing to the every man, and Common Sense spread quickly across the country. It was so influential and widely read that it is commonly credited by modern historians as being one of the single most powerful catalysts of the American Revolution, a publication so incendiary that John Adams remarked “without the pen of the author of Common Sense the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”

Thomas Paine was an English-American, writer and revolutionist; he was born on January 29, 1736. From 1772 to 1773, Paine joined excise officers asking Parliament for better pay and working conditions, publishing, in summer of 1772, The Case of the Officers of Excise, a twenty-one-page article, and his first political work. On June 4 1774, mathematician, Fellow of the Royal Society, and Commissioner of the Excise George Lewis Scott introduced him to Benjamin Franklin, who suggested him to move to British colonial America. In October, Thomas Paine departed from Great Britain to the American colonies. He arrived in Philadelphia on November 30 1774. He became a citizen of Pennsylvania by taking the oath of allegiance at a very early period. In January 1775, he became the editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine. In April 1775, during the battles of Lexington and Concord, Paine viewed, that the Colonies had all the right to revolt against a government that imposed taxes on them but which did not give them the right of representation in the Parliament at Westminster. But he went even further: for him there was no reason for the Colonies to stay dependent on England. On January 10 1776 he namelessly published the best-selling American title of that period named Common Sense, signed as “Written by an Englishman”. Common Sense was another article that directly demanded independence from British government, it was the most widely read pamphlet of the American Revolution.

Looking through the history of politics, it can be seen that a majority of cultural, social, and economic issues are birthed from the hands of authors. The French Revolution had Maximilien Robespierre, the Age of Enlightenment had John Locke, and, lastly, the American Revolution had Thomas Paine. Of these revolutions and changes in society, the American Revolution was fundamental in creating the American identity and the residuals can still be felt today. Although there were numerous figures that aided the beginning of the American Revolution, Paine was one of the most influential due to his 48-page pamphlet Common Sense. Published anonymously so as to keep himself safe from the British, Common Sense truly brought the idea of independence from Great Britain front and center to the colonists. In doing so, the masses slowly began to turn on Great Britain and soon realized that independence was coming soon. Paine, with his politically capacity, implemented methods throughout Common that would draw people towards the idea of independence. The first method was to make the claim for independence a global need and reunite the colonies.

Many philosophers and theorists have spoken on the value, or lack thereof, of revolution. In Second Treatise of Government, John Locke builds the concept of a “social contract,” which outlines responsibilities of the government and what can be done if the state fails to uphold its duties.  Edmund Burke views political rebellion in a different light. He writes in Reflections on the Revolution in France that upheaval does excessive harm to the state, and, by extension, the people. While both Locke and Burke agree that rebellion is useful to the growth of a state, they differ on a few main points. First, they disagree in terms of what circumstances warrant revolution. Second, they each believe it should take different forms and work to different extents. Finally, Locke and Burke believe revolution tends to have positive or negative effects, respectively. Their views on each of these points will be discussed in turn.

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is a major document of American history written between 1775-76. In this, Paine argues for the independence of the colonies. He begins his argument with general reflections about government and religion. He then specifies issues that dealt with the colonies.

During the Enlightenment, many western political and economic philosophers attempted to describe the transition of mankind towards modernity. Specifically, Edmund Burke (1729-1797) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) were both heavily influenced by the American Revolution (1775-1783) and French Revolution (1789-1799), which compelled each to write about the existence of inequalities in society and transformations that aim to address these inequalities. Burke and Rousseau differed in their interpretations of why inequalities exist within society and had diverging views on radical transformation within society. These differences stem from their conflicting ideology pertaining to the role

Jean Jacques Rousseau and Edmond Burke may appear to fall on opposite extremes of political ideology. Credited with having inspired the French Revolution, Rousseau is seen a proponent of liberalism. Denouncing the French revolution on the other hand Burke is seen a strong advocate of conservatism. As far removed from one another as these political ideologies may be, in some key areas, some of the fundamental elements constituting the building blocks of of Rousseau and Burke’s individual political thoughts are to a certain degree comparable. Highlighted in this paper, is their understanding of the freedom and liberty of man.

This essay will examine the philosophical difference between Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine relating to the French and American Revolutions at the late Eighteenth Century. We are going to present a summary of the debate between these two different philosophers in the first part of this essay. The pros and cons of each man will be looked at in the second and third part of the essay and the final part of this essay will explain why Thomas Paine's view was more accepted and legitimate in America than Edmund Burke. In summary this essay will compare and contrast both Paine and Burke views of natural rights, human nature and the government.