Research Paper On Thomas Paine

Paine’s Common Sense Thomas Paine is recognized for his role as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Ironically, Paine was born in Great Britain not America as one would except. In January 1776, a pamphlet entitled Common Sense was published in Philadelphia with the author of an Englishman. This Englishman was Thomas Paine who had immigrated to Philadelphia less than two years prior with the assistance of another famous Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin. Common Sense was a propaganda pamphlet written using plain language urging Americans through anti-monarchical reasoning to declare their independence from Great Britain. It is important to note that the seeds of the American Revolution were already established before Common …show more content…
It was published with the intent of convincing the American people to declare their independence from Great Britain. Common Sense was written with a specific audience in mind. His audience was everyone no matter their socioeconomic status. This is why Paine utilized simple language as he knew his audience included common people who read little more than the Bible (Nash et al. 2017, 121). The clearest examples of this style of prose are these two sentences: “O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny, but also the tyrant, stand forth!” (Paine [1776] 2008, para. 107). Everyone that would have heard or read this knew that Paine was referring to King George III as the tyrant. Also, they would have acknowledged that Great Britain’s form of government a monarchy was tyranny. Likewise, Paine is urging Americans to declare their independence from Great Britain who was suppressing their liberties through parliamentary acts like the Stamp Act they deeply resented. This radical notion would have been easily understood by everyone who had accessed this pamphlet. The colonists after reading or hearing Common Sense would have truly believed it was possible to establish a new political order in …show more content…
Paine used anti-monarchial reasoning based on the nations that all men were created equal and biblical history to argue against the unnecessary distinction between a king and his subjects. He argued that it was due to the distinction between king and his subjects that Americans were suffering. Paine wrote this pamphlet during a time of tension and uneasiness caused by parliamentary acts like the Stamp Act which the colonist felt were too restrictive and infringing on their liberties. This pamphlet was written using simple language so anyone no matter their socioeconomic status could have access and rally around Paine’s radical message of American’s independence. Without the push from Paine’s Common Sense, it is possible that today the United States would not