The 17th Century Puritan Influence on the Writings of Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense” had a greater effect on revolutionary America than the Declaration of independence because it aroused national feelings and contributed to the Declaration of Independence. Common Sense was a pamphlet published anonymously by Thomas Paine and The Declaration of Independence was an official document detailing a policy of the new American government. Without “Common Sense” the Declaration of Independence would not be as we know it today.

Political activist Thomas Paine during the beginnings of the American Revolution wrote a pamphlet , Common Sense , to convince the American people and the continental congress to completely break away from England and it's monarchy. Paine writes in a passionate tone to explain the differences between society and government, how they both form, and why. Paine aims to convince his audience to cut ties with the motherland through his use of rhetorical appeals, figurative language, and schemes.

Common Sense is a pamphlet in a series of pamphlets called, The American Crisis, which was written by the enlightenment philosopher and author, Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine was a significant character in the American fight for independence by using his radicalized writings to inspire the colonists to conclude it was time to break away from British rule. Common Sense was critically successful due to it selling 500,000 copies a few months after it’s publication in 1776. Common Sense is a pamphlet that has many key ideas that show the many strengths of Paine’s argument while also having some weaknesses that could damage the credibility of his argument.

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.

It is clear that throughout many years there has been an exemption of treatment when talking about the Native Americans in the United States. Supposedly every individual is endowed with the right of freedom, equality, and of seeking for happiness, but Native Americans were treated irrationally. From the discovery of America, to the founding fathers and settlers, the treatment and attitude towards Native Americans has been unsettling at best. The colonial policies toward the Native Americans affected the Indians in ways that changed their relationship between their tribes and the new nation. Cabeza de Vaca, Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, and Benjamin

He had already written papers about the injustices and cruelties the Americans had to face while being overruled by Britain. Thomas Paine was the only American who had the audacity to write about gaining independence from Britain. He was the one who believed in America and its citizens to become a world superpower, and to grow into making their beloved country special. Written in his essay Age of Reason, he said, “I saw, or at least I thought I saw, a vast scene opening itself to the world in the affairs of America; and it appeared to me, that unless the Americans changed the plan they were then pursuing, with respect to the government of England, and declared themselves independent, they would not only involve themselves in a multiplicity of new difficulties, but shut out the prospect that was then offering itself to mankind through their means,” (44). In this passage of The Age of Reason, he stated his motive to write Common Sense. His motive to write Common Sense was for his patriots and the country as a whole. Not to make his political status rise, but to help America progress as an independent country. It wasn’t about him and his career as an author, but about having colonial unity amongst it’s citizens, and fight together to make America advance. Not only was their motive from the American public, but also from his fellow comrades, like Ben Franklin. They would frequently discuss upon this matter of independence and other international news, and this would have a significant influence into the writing of his persuasive essay. He spent hours daily discussing with his fellow moderns. It is obvious that Paine incorporated the conversations and correspondence with his compatriots into his essay. The long discussions that he had with Ben Franklin and his other friends gave him good ideas and a good understanding of their current situation. These long discussions were

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.

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.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine is one of the most influential pieces of writing from the American Revolution. Thomas Paine started off Common Sense by arguing for American independence. He started by arguing about more general governmental and religious ideas, then he goes on to talk about the case of the American Colonies. His views and ideas set forth here helped to unite the American people for revolution and helped them to form a new kind of government after the war was over.

The political essay, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, published in 1776 before the American Revolution convinced the colonial people of need for liberty. Paine, a highly educated man, used three rhetorical devices logos, pathos, and ethos in order to convince the people of his cause. In order to persuade the colonial people fully, Paine catered his arguments to the economist’s logic, the parents’ love, and the religious man’s faith.

Did you know, the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, and Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, were both written in the year of 1776? “Thomas Jefferson, in drafting the Declaration of independence, had, as he later said, ‘turned to neither book nor pamphlet in writing it’; he attempted simply to ‘place before mankind the Common Sense of the subject’.” (citation) “Thomas Paine wrote several books and pamphlets, including Common Sense that greatly contributed to ‘delegitimizing’ the claims to authority of the British state.” (citation) There are many similarities and differences between these two well-known writings. Both documents, in their own way, discussed independence from Britain, promoted colonists to think for

“These are times that try men’s souls,” stated Thomas Paine. Paine was a man from Thetford, England, and born on June 8, 1809. Today, he is now known for his encouragement of the American Revolution, along with his various words of wisdom and to motivate independence and self-rights. Through his successes came great struggle when Paine’s wife and child had both died during childbirth. Taking the title of “The Father of the American Revolution”, he greatly influenced American history with his deist worldviews and his “Common Sense”.

Scott Liell’s book 46 pages: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, and the Turning Point to Independence ultimately describes Thomas Paine’s life and showcases the struggles he went through and the outside forces that influenced him to write Common Sense. Liell’s book also expresses the importance of Common Sense, stating that it is the “single most influential political work in American history” (16). Paine was born and raised in England, in which the King and his monarchial rule would have evident influence in his later

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.