Women In Thomas Paine's Common Sense By Thomas Paine

Throughout The Crisis, Paine incorporates multiple uses of language to persuade the men to enlist in the war for freedom. Paine states, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered” (1). He emphasizes that Britain's tyranny of the American colonies will be

During the late 1700’s, the colonies in America were upset and resentful of the British tyranny. In order to make the separation between the two groups official, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Two hundred years later, women were facing the same injustice, only it was from men; and to protest against the unfair treatment, Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. Both parties of oppression fought against the same outcome, unjust treatment, yet, each fought against different causes and in different ways.

The Enlightenment is known as the revolution that brought to question the traditional political and social structures. This included the question of the woman’s traditional roles in society. As the public sphere relied more and more ?? and the advances in scientific and educated thinking, women sought to join in with the ranks of their male counterparts. Women held gatherings known as salons where they organized intellectual conversations with their distinguished male guests. Seeking to further their status, enlightened women published pamphlets and other works advocating for educational rights and political recognition. Even with this evolution of woman in society, many still clung to the belief that the role of the woman was solely

The first reason the revolutionary war was justified was because the king ignored a myriad of petitions. In return, their “petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.” (7) Can you serve, respect, and honour a country that has brought death and soldiers into your land? Even after the King George III received the pleas of the settler, he continued to send more troops to their land, waging a silent war with the colonist’s. In Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, makes a very bold point that supports a big reason why the colonists were not guilty of declaring independence from Britain. He says “But...then tell me whether you can hereafter love, honour, and faithfully serve the power [ English Parliament ] that hath carried fire and sword into your land?” (6)What Paine

In the year of 1776, emotions intensify in Colonial America creating an atmosphere prime for dissidence and a yearning for independence. The livid Americans, overtaxed and mistreated by the British after the French and Indian War, debate and argue amongst themselves about the fate of their fledgling colony. The American colonies interested in seeking independence from their motherland Britain, look abroad in hopes of finding moral and political reasons to justify revolution. In the pamphlet, Common Sense, Frenchman Thomas Paine conveys such reasons using rhetorical elements such as figurative language, rhetorical questions, and assertions in order to enhance the morale of the colonists and support the Americans in their revolution against Britain.

During the Age of Enlightenment in the late eighteenth century, Mary Wollstonecraft presented a radical essay, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, that shed light on the largest, underrepresented groups of the time, women. The essay voiced the inequalities women at the time faced and called upon Wollstonecraft’s audience to invoke a revolution for the rights of women. Through her writing, she presented a compelling argument that slowly allowed women to question their “place” in society and demand change to the British social order. While these changes did not happen quickly, her work sparked the feminist movements through its unique message and called upon women to demand equality through the Match Girls Strike and Women’s Suffrage

American colonists were getting more and more frustrated with the rules being forced onto them by the British, so Thomas Paine’s timing was very crucial in convincing everyone to take such drastic measures. Paine’s structure makes it clear the colonists need only one more final inspiration to fight and he wants to present that as simply as possible by saying, “In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense...” (Paine n.pag.). Thomas Paine was a patriot of the 1770s, meaning he was one of the people who did not like being controlled by the British. The structure gives Paine a specific tone that seems very understandable and very to-the-point. He is trying to spread the idea that the solution to their Britain problem is very simple, but is overlooked by most colonists before 1776 when the pamphlet was written. He blatantly and clearly presents his argument immediately to his readers to give the colonists confidence and make them feel starting a rebellion will be easy to win and worthwhile to do. The colonists all came to the colonies to gain some freedom from the British Empire, yet are still getting controlled by them without any physical representation.

The effects of the revolutionary war were felt far and wide by everyone involved; however, groups such as the colonist slaves, the Indians, and women felt these influences in particular. For the colonist, the revolution signified the introduction of the idea of “life, liberty, and property” (Schultz, 2009, p. 112) as a natural right for every person. Additionally, the conclusion of the war signaled the possibility of the new politics of republican democracy, instead of the Old-World gentry style of governing (Schultz, 2014). Also, instead of seeing each state as its own entity, they began recognizing that they all shared attributes that separated them from everyone else; in fact, this provided the colonist with a sense of unity that was necessary for the creation of the United States of America (Schultz, 2009). These effects on the colonist were for their benefit, but what about the slaves?

Tensions grew between the British and the colonists because the British began to rule with absolute power. The colonist started to taunt the British and on occasion, the British killed them without any doubt and guilt. An example of the killing of colonists took place at the Boston Massacre where “order quickly broke down and the frightened [British] soldiers fired into the crowd. When the shooting ended, several people were dead and more were wounded” (Document 3). Due to this event, Paine thought that the conflict had gone too far to be settled peacefully. In an excerpt his pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine commented on the battles of Lexington and Concord saying “the moment the event of that day was made known, [he] rejected the harden sullen-tempered [king of English] forever” (Document 6). The colonists were tired of their freedoms being denied and being treated unfairly by the British. Due to events like this, the colonists were justified in waging war because the British unfairly killed the

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 46 Pages author Scott Liell is able to poignantly illustrate the colonies metamorphosis from a dependent arm of the English Empire to an independent country, the catalyst for which was Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Liell is able to not only articulate the turning point of the American consensus towards independence, but he also very intelligibly depicts the sentiments of all facets of colonial dogma and the torrential effect that Common Sense had in loosening the cement that held those beliefs. Using fantastic examples of the opinions of Tories, Whigs, and those ambivalent towards independence, Liell efficiently and

When considering the American Revolution most histories fail to recognize both sides of the fight for liberty. Men were certainly the central figures; however could they have succeeded without the periphery support of women? In her book, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America, Linda K. Kerber explores the contribution of women to the war and demonstrates the rising of “Republican Motherhood” during and following the war. Through this ideology, women merged their traditional roles with their new sense of civic duty. In the beginning chapters, Kerber examines women’s engagement in the war effort, explores the emerging idea of female patriotism and states the proper loyalties of married women during the time.

The second way Paine structures his argument for independence from Britain is through an extended metaphor, comparing England and America to a mother and child. Through this metaphor, Paine illustrates the toxicity of the relationship to the reader in “plain” language. Abandoning technical terms and the phrases often used by higher class, educated individuals Paine keeps the metaphor plain and simple so that everyone can comprehend the message. Paine begins the metaphor by highlighting the destructive “maternal” relationship shared by the countries. “But Britain is the parent country, say some. The the more shame upon her conduct. Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make

It is easy to interpret the American Revolution simply as a struggle for freedom. The magnanimous phrases of the Declaration of Independence have embedded in our hearts and minds glorious images of the Founding Fathers fighting for the natural rights of man. The American Revolution, however, also had a darker side to it, the side of self-interest and profit. The signers of the Declaration represented various classes – the working class, the wealthy land owners and merchants, the intellectuals, and the social elite. Each of these strata had its own set of expectations and fears, which lent a new dimension to the cause of the Revolution. The pressure of these internal, and often overlapping groups, combined with the oppressive external

Throughout time, events such as wars and assassinations have occurred that people today can describe as “a turning point in history”. However, not all turning points in history have to be wars, assassinations, etc. In fact, perhaps everybody acknowledges that Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense is a “turning point in history” because it inspired the United States Revolutionary War. Common Sense, a pamphlet, can be credited as to inciting the American Colonies to revolt against Great Britain. However, how could a mere pamphlet concerning such a complex and complicated issue ignite The United States to a major turning point? By focusing on trade sanctions imposed on the United States by Great Britain and insisting the United States could have a better Navy than Great Britain while writing in an easy to read style that emphasizes key words by capitalizing or italicizing, Paine appealed to the average colonist in a way that reinforced the democratic ideals of the early Americans.