Thomas Paine The Great Debate Analysis

Thomas Paine was a renowned pro-American writer and author of some of the most persuasive texts of the American Revolution. Paine wrote in a manner that appealed to the masses, not just American elites. He often quoted the Bible in his arguments in an attempt to engage people of all classes in the struggle for American independence and for a rejection of government based on hereditary monarchy. In Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense, it said the Colonists should aim for complete independence from Britain. He argued that Britain governed the Americans for its own benefit, not theirs, and that the distance between the two nations made governing from England very inefficient. The pamphlet sold in its thousands and became very influential. It helped …show more content…
Rights of Man argued against Edwards Burkes Reflections on the Revolution in France. Burkes generally supported the colonists in the American Revolution, and he also felt that Britain should be more pragmatic about the American colonist 's rights and complaints. Even though Burke supported the American Revolution, he opposed the French Revolution. There is a controversial debate about Thomas Paine and Edward Burkes through their own literature. In the article, The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine and the Birth of Right and Left by Alan Ryan …show more content…
In the article Jefferson and Paine: A Relationship Beyond by Gaye Wilson, he describes Paine’s and Jefferson’s relationship through Paine’s literature. “His support of Paine had thrown Jefferson into the crucible of American politics and made him an identifiable leader of those who favored a strongly republican form of government. With a lesson learned, Jefferson would be much more careful in the future” (Wilson). Jefferson remained silent on certain publications by Paine because he did not know Paine’s religious beliefs. Paine’s work, The Age of Reason, attacked organized religion, the authority of the Bible, and the divinity of Jesus which opposed the idea of what America was built off of. “Jefferson identified Paine as an advocate of human liberty and praised his style of writing, but concluded his letter with a request for confidence: ‘Remember, that I am old, that I wish not to make new enemies’” (Wilson). While Paine was in France, he had received an invitation from Jefferson to return to America. When he did he attended a dinner at the Presidents house which then started the downhill of Washington’s and Paine’s