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People often confuse the American Revolution for the War for Independence. Although they share similar motives and similar actions, they are not one in the same. As John Adams made note of in a letter to Thomas Jefferson in 1815, "What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the Revolution" (Bailyn, 1967, p. 1).
He goes on to explain the war was more of a consequence and effect than a part of it as it developed. The Revolution existed in the minds of people long before the one heard the first gun shot. "The records of thirteen legislatures, the pamphlets, newspapers in all the colonies, ought to be consulted during that period to ascertain the steps by which the public opinion was enlightened and informed concerning the authority of Parliament over the colonies." This lesson examines the "Revolution in the minds of the people" (Bailyn, 1967, p. 1). In writing this, Adams focuses on describing Thomas Paine's extraordinarily influential pamphlet titled Common Sense, which was published in January 1776 having multiple reprints (25 times) in the following year, helping to inspire the Declaration of Independence.
The American Revolution inspired the War for Independence. Common Sense inspired The Declaration of Independence. This is where this essay will focus on in explaining the differences and similarities of both works. Although Common Sense...
Inspiration plays a pivotal role in generating the seeds of change; however, it is the action of establishment that produces long-term effects.
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Thomas Paine born 1737 and dying 1809, wrote numerous books and pamphlets most consider greatly added to "delegitimizing" the entitlements to power of the mother country or British state. Paine proclaimed that "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" (Sargent, 1997, p. 60) and engaged the reader, allowing the reader to focus on the dialog of the nature of monarchs in the Bible. Something as well-known as the Bible enabled readers to associate and connect easily with Paine's words and ideas. As to the precise assertions of the British Empire, Paine stated, "No man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A French bastard, landing with an armed banditti and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives…" (Wilensky, Richardson & Paine, 2008, p. 168). Essentially meaning no one can easily convince the natives of submitting to a ruler,…
References
Bailyn, B. (1967). The ideological origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Haran, T. (2010). Our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor. [United States]: Xlibris Corporation.
Sargent, L. (1997). Political thought in the United States. New York: New York University Press.
Wilensky, M., Richardson, T., & Paine, T. (2008). The elementary Common sense of Thomas Paine. New York: Savas Beaties.
Most nations have let slip the opportunity, and have been compelled to receive laws from their conquerors (Paine). Democracy, the republic, voting, the Supreme Court, debate, etc. are no longer foreign concepts -- the great American "experiment" of 1776 still exists, so contemporary readers do not find issues of individual liberty and law to be either controversial or strange. Common Sense was a seminal event in the way the entire
Common Sense -- Thomas Paine Thomas Paine, one of the most influential writers of the American Revolution, wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense. In this short work, he incited and inspired American Patriots to declare independence from Great Britain. One author semi-jokingly called him a "corset maker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination" (PoemHunter.com, 2009). The work was one of the top best sellers of the
Common Sense by Thomas Paine, and the Declaration of Independence as to which had a greater or stronger effect on the colonists. This essay will ultimately suggest that the Declaration of Independence was a more effective document due to its ability to reform the colonies into a republic. This essay will first describe Common Sense and its impact before doing the same with the Decleartaion of Independence. Common Sense Common Sense
1. What was so revolutionary about �Common-Sense� when it was first written in 1775?When Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, he dared the colonists to rise against one of the world�s greatest empires and encouraged them to build their new nation as a democratic republic. Paine argued in Common Sense that the colonies should pursue complete independence from Britain (Paine, 1776). His pamphlet persuaded many people who were dubious about the
Moreover Thomas made people realize that kings are the cause of all wars with his evidence from the Bible: In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throw mankind into confusion." (Thomas Paine) Thomas was an expert in reaching down to the souls of common man and
Common Sense Reaction PaperIn Common Sense, Thomas Paine argued for the independence of America from the English Crown. In doing so, he contributed at least philosophically to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, which came in 1776 and which stated in no uncertain terms that �We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights��[footnoteRef:2]