Similarities Between Declaration Of Independence And Thomas Paine

Although a decade falls between chapter IX of John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government and both The Declaration of Independence and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, similar underlying themes and influences, such as Enlightenment, can be found within all three documents. Additionally, it can be said that these works all act as social contracts which convey that irrefutable efforts were made to reason with the King of England, but all attempts to reconcile were dismissed by the English monarchy. Furthermore, close speculation reveals that the writers of the Declaration of Independence were influenced by Locke’s ideas. Throughout this essay it will be emphasized how the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense agree and disagree, to what authority they appeal, along with the subtopics within each piece, and the comparative desires each author possessed. Finally, …show more content…
This is because the two authors use the same basic techniques to communicate their opinions to their audience, which include exploring the problem at hand, giving probable reasons for it being a serious problem, as well as giving their opinions on achieving the best possible solution. As previously stated, both the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense by Thomas Paine were strongly influenced by Enlightenment. Religiously, both pieces are fundamentally sacerdotal, accepting a model of religion which categorizes humans as beings created with a sense of morality, hence the conclusion of making choices and solving communal arguments based on this sense of morality. Also as previously stated, both documents resemble the qualities of a social contract, simply meaning that the government has power, but this power is in a sense governed by the wishes and popular opinions of the people; and can also be replaced when the majority of people feel they are not being governed properly. Additionally, both documents emphasize that the colonies made