Thomas Paine Beliefs

Unequivocally one of the most historically and culturally-significant pieces of literature, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense has been meticulously analyzed for its effectiveness in eliciting the reaction that Paine himself intended in 1776. At the forefront of Paine’s pamphlet is “Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs,” notable for its first sentence: “In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple, facts, plain arguments, and commonsense” (7). Within, Paine “elaborates” on three main points that strengthen the option of independence: the effects of British rule on the colonies; the plausible relationship with Britain upon reconciliation; and the actual role of England as a parent country as opposed to England’s optimal role. However, upon analysis of the text, I discerned that Paine does not develop his main points to the extent that he does his almost-propaganda-like statements regarding England. Despite this, adding historical knowledge to Common Sense can help one corroborate Paine’s views to an extent. Overall, when expressing his views on the colonies’ relationship with England, possible results of reconciliation, and England as a parent country, Paine does not elaborate, but information regarding the Navigation Acts and mercantilism can assist one in understanding the significance of Common Sense.

1. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with the British monarchy involve its straying from ideal government, the unjust placement of one individual above all others, and its hereditary aspect. The problems that Thomas Paine sees with King George III in particular are his personal transgressions against liberty. Thomas Paine, firstly views government as “but a necessary evil” (15), and therefore it should be both as limited as possible and also tied to the more positive society. The ideal form of government, thus according to Paine, is a simple republic where the elected are forced to be accountable to their electors (16). The British monarchy fails in all accounts; not only does the prescence of a monarchy at all eliminate the accountability of a republic, but the complicatedness of the British monarchy system makes it worse in this aspect than even other monarchies. Although absolute monarchies are horrid in that they give no power to the people, they are still simpler than the British monarchy; this makes issues much more difficult to handle in the British monarchy (17). The other problems that Paine has with the British monarchy apply to monarchies at large. Paine argues that the placement of one person above all others is an unnatural divide; there is no explanation for the division of people into “KINGS and SUBJECTS” (22) such as there are in other forms of division that humans live with. If it does not make sense to place one individual above all others, then such should most certainly not be law; therefore, from this logic, monarchy, which is entirely based on the principle of placing one person (and their relatives) above all others, is an invalid and unnatural form of government. Of course, some people could, arguably, have earned the admiration and respect of their peers through important action, and thus be deserving of a leadership position. In a republic, by listening to their electors, the elected earn their right to lead. However, the hereditary monarchy removes this earning of the right to lead, and Paine takes issue with that. There is no guarantee that the descendants of a good leader will also be good leaders, and therefore the government of a country should never be left to heredity (29).

As the year 1776 began in the American colonies, tension with King George III’s England was at perhaps an all-time high.  Americans were frustrated with the actions of their rulers overseas.  Taxes and trade restrictions had been placed on them, and British and mercenary soldiers occupied their towns and cities.  There had even been fighting at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.  As America grew, England’s hold on it tightened, and a few voices began speaking of independence.  The loudest and most convincing of these belonged to Thomas Paine, born in England and living in Philadelphia.  His pamphlet, Common Sense, expressed the argument for American independence in a way no one had before and had a great influence on the Declaration of

In the previous paragraph, although Paine talked about the flaws that come into play in a government that is run by a single ruler, he then talked about how having a ruler may be inevitable and provides an example of how it may work. Though Paine doesn't argue against having a ruler to the fullest extent due to the amount of oppressive that is seen through having single rulers, he feels that there should be someone in charge but have equal power with other parties, therefore that single person isn't in complete control. According to Paine, " Let the assemblies be annual, with a President only. The representation more equal. Their business wholly domestic, and subject to the authority of a Continental Congress." This shows Paine's thinking on producing a government with equality. In this example, there will be representation from all aspects and people, so they can and will be part of the decision-making as well as the President. Thomas Paine's theory on creating a government with a higher power which is surrounded by equality can flourish due to the elimination of oppression, tyranny, and abuse of power.

Thomas Paine claims in Common Sense that the people living in America do not need to tolerate the oppression from their British overlords. His main purpose for writing this pamphlet was to expose the injustice of the British towards the Americans and to persuade those who still believed that the British were either needed or were beneficial for the Americans in 1776. Paine values the idea that the Americans need to revolt against their evil ,oppressive, monarchical rulers in Britain and to establish pure democracy in the Thirteen Colonies. Paine writes from the perspective of an equal to his fellow American man, thus making him relatable from common folk to the wealthy merchants and upper classes. Paine shows the British tyranny over America as horrific and he wishes to expose British faults and impurities to inspire the colonists

According to The American Pageant, Thomas Paine was from Britain. Paine was a corset-maker’s apprentice. Paine had come over from Britain in 1775. The website history.com says that his father’s religion influenced Paine’s humanitarianism, and a strong interest in Newtonian science helped him develop hatred for governments that rested on hereditary privilege. He would become well known in 1776, after the publication of Common Sense, one of the most persuasive arguments for American independence. The American Pageant states, “He began his incendiary tract with a treatise on the nature of government and eloquently anticipated Thomas Jefferson’s declaration.” According to History.com, Paine’s pamphlet sold around 150,000 copies in 1776 largely due to Paine’s rhetorical and literacy skills. History.com also said that his message conveyed by his style was of a piece with his democratic politics: to understand the nature of politics, that all it

Thomas Paine argued for the need for the independence of the American colonies from Great Britain. In the beginning, he wrote about general theories of government, focusing then on the specific situation in the colonies

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

Thomas Paine was an English-born American political activist and revolutionary. In 1791 he published a book titled “Rights of Man.” In this, Paine describes the natural rights of the people and what may happen if governments choose not to protect these rights. In this he states that America is a place against all odds doesn’t have oppressed poor, and that the rich are not overly privileged. Thomas Paine’s characterization of America doesn’t hold true today because the government is no longer just and that poor people are oppressed.

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.

1. Thomas Paine was nothing but an English craftsman who had emigrated to Philadelphia. He was a minor government official as well. Thomas Jefferson was born in America and like Americans in his time, he believed that Britain had a corrupted constitution. Paine soon finds himself joining the advocates where ideas were being created. From there, Paine was influenced to write the pamphlet called, "Common Sense." Both individuals promoted American Independence and made ideas plain to American colonists. Thomas Paine's advantage was the fact that he wasn't raised under Great Britain's Constitution, that gave him ideas and questions to why is America still under British control considering the fact that there are angry Americans.

The United States of America was created by people who were not afraid to stand up for what they believed in. Together they fought, died, and built a new nation of freedom for all. However, the American Revolution would not have gained such widespread support without one man who believed in the freedom of speech. Thomas Paine risked his life to fight the British's censorship of the colonists and encouraged the people to fight back against the King's opposition. Paine fought for his ideals by illegally printing his book Common Sense, giving the people morale through The American Crisis, and becoming involved in the French Revolution through Rights of Man.

“In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments and, common sense.” (Common Sense, Thomas Paine) Thomas Paine is seen as one of the most influential and outspoken igniters of the American Revolution. In his pamphlet commonsense he addresses all the ideas of government and constitutional pragmatism. William Hogeland in his article Thomas Paine’s Revolutionary Reckoning. Hogeland describes Paine’s life in great detail as well as showing the conflict between Paine and President George Washington. The connection between Paine and Washington is one that really brings into perspective how much Paine’s writtings meant in defining how America took up arms against England. What is most interesting about Hogelands

Thomas Paine was an English-American philosopher, political theorist, political activist, revolutionary, and one of Americas Founding Fathers. He was born on February 9, 1737 in Thetford, United Kingdom. His early life in England consisted of little education, other than reading, writing, and arithmetic, and numerous jobs such as stay maker, corset makers, and an officer. He never exceeded at any of these tasks. It was 1772 where he published his first political article pertaining to the higher pay excise officers should receive. After this, Paine moved to America where he went on to work for Pennsylvania Magazine and write several essays and pamphlets that influenced many Americans during the American Revolution. Some of his crucial pieces of work consist of African Slavery in America, Rights of a Man, The Age of Reason, and perhaps Paine’s

Throughout Common Sense, Thomas Paine shows that he is against Monarchical government, and he says that the government type itself is not a reasonable means of ruling a nation. To support this, he sheds light on several reasons in which a monarchy is a bad choice for government. Paine says that all the power is unbalanced and vested in the hands of a single person, which most of the time leads to the King of the nation using the powers he has, against his people, for the benefit of himself, and those around him. Paine also says that to have hereditary succession of a monarch is complete nonsense. Paine uses his reason to support this case by showing that maybe a nation is lucky and has a well fit ruler as a King, but who is to say the King’s successor will be best fit for the position of King or Queen of a country. The notion that one ruler is fair and just, does NOT guarantee that the successor will be as just or as fair.