Compare And Contrast Patrick Henry And Thomas Paine

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In the United States, citizens have put forth their views on the rights and wrongs they see in society. This can be observed throughout American history.The United States was founded on freedom, rebellion, and revolution. An example of how Americans have represented revolutionary and rebellious ideals is through the speeches, writings, and civil activists throughout American history. Two writers, from different time periods, who display rebellion and revolutionary ideals through their writings are Henry David Thoreau and Thomas Paine. Henry David Thoreau the author of Civil Disobedience, and Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense. Although these writers lived in different time periods, they both invoked similar messages through their writings, that …show more content…

They did not like the conditions the British monarchy was treating them as a colony, so they decided that independence would be the best option. Patrick Henry’s disobedience and rebellious writings were entrenched by something much different. Patrick Henry being transcendentalist, wanted his mind to exceed culture and society. Accordingly, He believed that his ideas and his views were greater than the laws imposed by the government. Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine were both influenced by the conditions of their time period. Thoreau, living right before the revolution, was angered by actual events occurring all over the colonies. Thoreau and Paine both wrote to motivate people in in America to stand up against the wrongdoings of the British government. Paine and Thoreau’s messages were similar in meaning but accountable to the conditions of the time period each author lived in. Thoreau had lived in America after their independence from Britain, so the laws he imposed were American laws. On the other hand, Paine’s goal was to defy the corrupt laws Royal Britain had set for the

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