Ethical Decision Making In American History

Regardless of the weaknesses in Paine’s article, Common Sense is extremely valuable to scholars and students. For both scholars and students Common Sense allows them to learn exactly what was happening during this time in America. This first hand document allows readers to get a better understanding of where America was at and why they needed independence and why they were capable of earning their independence. This pamphlet allowed scholars to see exactly how America came one step closer to declaring its independence, and it allows students to get a glimpse of the thoughts of a first-hand colonist who was going through what they read in their history books.

Today we look back at the American Revolution and picture a united people fighting for inalienable rights, but to grasp the impact that Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” had upon his contemporaries we must understand the situation in the American colonies in 1776. When Paine wrote his pamphlet, the colonist and The Parliament in London, were almost 10 years into a debate over the rights of limited self-government by the colonies. In the months preceding the publication of Paine’s pamphlet the situation had steadily worsened until the April 19th, 1775 armed confrontation between Massachusetts colonists and British Army soldiers. By the end of that day, blood had been shed by both sides, and armed colonists placed the British garrison in Boston under siege. Despite this violence, most colonists viewed the events as a part of a struggle between Englishmen that would be resolved with the continued allegiance of the colonies to the Crown, but with more favorable treatment from London. It was with this popular mindset throughout the colonies, that Paine would deliver his “Common Sense” pamphlet arguing for complete independence from England. Paine understood that to make his argument resonate he needed to appeal to the public in a manner that had yet to be done.

The revolutionary British colonist Thomas Paine, in his pamphlet “Common Sense” (1776), encourages Americans to use of common sense and realize the need of immediate independence from the British Empire. With his rhetorical appeals, figurative language, and structure, Paine manages to convey enthusiasm for the revolutionary cause and the idea of republicanism as the perfect shape of government. Given the importance and the purpose of the message he wants to convey, and the use of an elevated language, his intended audience is the colonists, especially the most influential ones like the Congress.

When attempting to interpret the morality of an action in American society, it is nearly impossible to avoid reflecting on the Founding Fathers’ ideals and perspectives. Even

In the years leading up to the American revolution it was evident that a new identity was developing for colonist. Stemming from the Seven Year’s colonists were slowly discovering a new way of viewing the mother country and themselves. By the eve of the American revolution most colonist had adopted the identity of British citizens fighting to protect their liberties. A strong bond of unity can be seen from colonists’ shared opinions and agreed course of action, while a large loyalist population supports that this bond took time to build.

Paine saw the government as a haunted evil that could only become acceptable when it was depicted accurately and altered by elections. Paine uses inspiration by which people’s beliefs, aspirations, ambitions and requirements are specified. His articles brought audacity in a time of need to people who desired to become self-reliant. At the time that Paine wrote “Common Sense” the colonies were however contemplating about announcing their independence from Great

In his excerpt from “Common Sense” (1776), Thomas Paine charges the American people to fight for independence from British rule and to ensure a fair government fit for America. Paine published his essay in a pamphlet to be dispersed among the American people, hoping to appeal to their common sense and to distinguish the difference between the weight of Britain's oppressive government, and the lightness of society. His tone is prudent and makes his purpose unavoidably reasoned and, more notably, reasonable.

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is a pamphlet that was written in 1775-76. Paine’s purpose for this writing was to be an encouragement to the general people of the thirteen colonies to seek declaration of their independence from Great Britain. Paine’s desire to connect with the common people is evident in his plain and easy to understand writing style; he wrote in an educated, but straight-forward manner. Dubbed a “political quack” by Loyalist, James Chalmers of Maryland in the Plain Truth (New), and accused of producing a “crapulous mass” by none other than John Adams, we see just two examples of the many attacks on Paine, who prevailed to

Thomas Paine is often considered one of the unsung heroes of the American Revolution and wrote some of the greatest revolutionary propaganda that is still being studied today. In his 1791 Book “Rights of Man” he postulates that America is a bastion of hope and is an unlikely melting pot of cultures, languages and religions brought together greatly by a non-oppressive government that supported the rights of all people. 1791 America was by no stretch of the imagination the flawless perfect republic sought out by Thomas Paine on account of slavery (among other factors). Even today we are teetering on the edge between Paine’s ideal unoppressive society and total chaos. While Paine’s characterization of America still rings true in many regards there are some facets of modern life that Paine may find to be troubling. He also may believe that American’s today have strayed away from his vision of the “cordial union between all peoples”.

During the revolutionary period, new thoughts and ideas were being presented. These ideas ultimately formulated into an American political ideology. Questions were being asked and it was during this time that a new experiment in government would take place. However, before that could occur, great thinkers had to present their ideas and argue for a change in government. Thomas Paine argued for lofty ideals such as freedom, security, and equality. It was through these arguments that he encapsulated the American ideology during this period. Therefore, for the purpose of this paper, I will argue that Thomas Paine’s Common Sense best represents the formulating ideology found during this period. I will first discuss Paine’s argument for

Based on various sources, one can conclude that the American Revolution was inevitable, as well as foreseeable. Acts established by the colonies and Great Britain were plentiful, and also forgotten. The effort that the British ‘regulars’ put into making the colonies follow these Acts was only a waste of their time.

In colonial America, Britain’s colonies were subjected to many Parliamentary acts that were considered to be, by many of the colonists, oppressive. The Declaratory Act, the Coercive Acts, and numerous other tax-based acts were just a few of the many examples of the controlling behavior displayed by the British Parliament toward their North American colonies. This seemingly oppressive behavior by the British Parliament had not gone unnoticed by those outside of the Colonies, as British citizens had even begun to sympathize for the colonists (Johnson). In all this time, the colonists still viewed themselves as British citizens. Eventually, however, Parliament’s presence and actions in the Colonies had become so great, that the thought of independence began to form in the minds of many colonists. For quite some time, the Colonies were unable to make a decision on whether or not to secede from Great Britain. It took the words from a man named Thomas Paine, through his writing of Common Sense, to finally urge the Colonies onwards to unify and fight for independence.

What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are not known? Can I learn more about the situation? Do I know enough to make a decision?

In today's business and personal world, ethical decisions are made on a daily basis. Most of these decisions are based on company ground rules. The others are based on personal ground rules. All decisions can have a number of ground rules that help us determine whether our decision is ethical or unethical. Each decision whether it is based on company or personal ground rules will have its own set of implications. In the following paragraphs I will discuss the impacts of ethics on decision-making, discuss the elements of an ethically defensible decision, define what the ground rules are; what they could be and what they should be, discuss