Prior to 1776, independence, in the eyes of the American colonists, was nothing but a silly dream. In Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, he denounces the authority of the British government, attacking the Monarchy, and claiming that Britain has no right to govern America. In his efforts to refute Paine, James Chalmers, a Loyalist, wrote Plain Truth, arguing that separation from Britain would be harmful to the already hurting colonies. Paine, in his attempts to persuade the colonies for freedom from Britain, presents his arguments for American independence while Chalmers, in his biting polemic, ridiculed Paine in his arguments against independence, arguing for reconciliation with Britain. In one of his points advocating independence, Paine argued that America is far too vast to be ruled by a small island like Britain. Paine writes, “Small islands not capable of …show more content…
Simply put, without Britain, we cannot trade. He comments on Paine’s belief that France and Spain would help America break off from Britain, saying, “[this] is also a strong proof of his insanity” (158). Unlike Paine, Chalmers believed commerce is of great importance to the colonies. Chalmers argues, “when independent, we cannot trade with Europe, without political connections, and that all treaties made by England or other commercial states are, or ought to be, ultimately subservient to their commerce” (156). The treaties are created by England, so we cannot trade if we break away from them. Chalmers argued, “Can we be so deluded, to expect aid from those princes, which inspiring their subjects with a relish for liberty, might eventually shake their arbitrary thrones…will they support the flame of liberty in America?” (155). France and Spain were both enemies of the British. Thus, Chalmers argued they would not be willing to help the
Chalmers argued that should the colonists gain independence from England their trading abilities would collapse and their economy would fail. He believed that to trade in the European market there needed to be political ties and contracts signed to be an established trade nation, and while the colonists had all of these luxuries under English rule, once they were independent they would not be part of the established trade network. Chalmers believed “The greatest part of our plank, staves, shingles, hoops, corn, beef, pork, herrings, and many other articles, could find no vent, but in the English Islands,” and without England to trade with the colonist’s trade network would be depleted and would fail along with their economy very rapidly (James Chalmers, Plain Truth, 117). Paine of course believed that independence from England would make the economy of the colonies flourish. He argued that the land of America was bountiful and profitable enough to boost the American economy in the trade markets of Europe. Unlike Chalmers, Paine believed that “As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no political connection with any part of it,” as this would make the American colonies unbiased and would be a better business decision (Paine, Common Sense, 108). In this situation,
Paine’s use of language to appeal both to his reader’s reason and emotion has given him the advantage of creating an emotional connection between himself and the reader, attempting to raise their spirits and show them what could be, while also asking them to put their own minds to the problem at hand. Asking them to make sense of their current situation. He gives hope and then appeals to their ability to discern what is best for their new world. By doing this, he has presented reason after reason for them to declare independence before he practically turned to them and said “Don’t you think so?” the only ‘reasonable’ answer would at that point be, “Yes of course Mr. Paine you’re completely right!”
Paine dwells on the differences between government and society. He stresses greatly on the fact that a government should be able to protect its society. Giving life and liberty to its people. He also points out that, Britain is the main cause of enemy to the Americas. Expressing disagreement with the British in American, he criticized the British government. He believes that the monarchy has too much power and their system is unreasonable. Paine complicates matters further when he writes, that the Americans are not British anymore. It is not British in a sense that it is so diverse, with different types of Europeans. In Paine’s views Britain is not a mother country, since it imposes harsh treatments and is in a war too often. The idea of best interest was important to Paine. In his views, Britain sees the Americas as profitable institutions to control and gains riches from, as opposed to the development and freedom of the nations. Independence from Britain was one of many ideas of this pamphlet. “Common Sense”, essentially pointed out the reasons why the colonies should leave the British and form a new government. His views on government inspired “Limited government” and “natural laws”, which gives citizens more control on how they shape their local environment and
The measures made to ensure the king does not have absolute power are not enough to prevent him from ultimately getting his way no matter what that may be. On page 27 Paine tells how the king made the declaration that there will be no law unless put in place by himself. This effort to make the colonists powerless as to how they are governed is tyranny. Paine’s also argues that this event shows how Britain believes America has become too powerful and is trying to slow its growth and development (27). Those who are in parliament so far away from the tragic events that take place in America who live in such a vastly different world are too ignorant to make judgements for America (23). Paine’s statement that in America “law is king,” demonstrates the author’s argument that law developed for the people should be what runs the country not a single man (30). This coincides with the way America was running well before the war ended and Britain decided to exert more power over the colonies. This is made even more evident when Thomas Paine states Britain cannot be relied on to defend them because Britain is the entity that had been trying to take away America’s power and the people rights. Furthermore,
The Revolutionary War was one of America’s earliest battles and one of many. Although, many came to America to gain independence from Great Britain many still had loyalty for the King and their laws. Others believed that America needs to be separated from Great Britain and control their own fate and government. I will analyze the arguments of Thomas Paine and James Chalmers. Should America be sustained by Great Britain or find their own passage?
Thomas Paine’s objective in “The American Crisis” is to persuade Americans to untie and take action in ridding America of British control; his writings effectiveness is due primarily to his employment of religious diction, vivid imagery, a sentimental anecdote, an urgent tone, as well as his consistent exploitation of his audiences’ emotions.
In addition to Paine's thoughts on monarchy, he is delighted to see the British leave America for many other reasons. It is clearly evident that Paine believes Americas would have flourished more if the British had not controlled the Americas. Not only does he say, ."..America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power had any thing to do with her", but he also states, "whenever a war breaks out between England and any foreign power, the trade of America goes to ruin, because of her[America] connection w...
Paine had not entertained the idea of independence from Britain when he arrived in America. He thought it was “a kind of treason” to break away from Britain. It was not until the Battle of Lexington in 1775 that he considered “the compact between Britain and America to be broken” (Claeys). This idea of a broken compact allowed Thomas Paine to write a political pamphlet.
Thomas Paine’s Common sense from III Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs is about the conflict between New England and America. The Americans didn’t like the way the British treated them so Paine’s stated his issue why America has to be an independent country to save its government and the reasons to wanted having freedom with Britain. Pain gave reason in the text what would happen to the American government if they stayed dependent from England. Paine’s Common Sense spoke out his beliefs about the hardships in America and how he felt America. A quote by Thomas Paine, “The authority of Great Britain over this continent is a form of government which sooner or later must have an end: and a serious mind can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and positive conviction that what he calls ‘the present constitution’ is merely
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and The Crisis, No. 1 deal directly with the colonist’s rejection of British rule. According Paine, the British Crown had over stayed its welcome in the political and cultural development of the colonies. The introduction of Common Sense clearly states that the British monarchy has “a long and violent abuse of power,” and that the people of the colonies have the right to be involved and have meaningful representation to the king and Parliament (325) This is a core value of the colonists. Settlers of the English colonies saw the New World as a way to start a new government and new culture, especially when they were given no power in the Parliament. Paine further casts a light on the problems between Britain and America in the third section of Common Sense. He states that Britain is not connected to America anymore, even if the people are descendants of the country. The passage also expresses the selfishness of Britain protection of the colonies to gain truth and control of the people. (326-328) The writings of this section reflect how colonists felt and further helped them to realize that their former mother country, Britain, was an enemy rather than a
During the late 17 hundreds the American colonies were split between separating from Great Britain or not. Some colonists felt they did not need to leave the rule of Britain, while others saw potential for the American colonies without Great Britain parliament. In the pamphlet titled Common Sense, Thomas Paine expressed his beliefs to separate from Great Britain in order to achieve greater opportunities for the Americans. He believed that nothing that came out of the monarchies was good, that America was oppressed and to structured to be run by Great Britain.
From the beginning of the nations history, America has gone through many trials to develop the idea of equality. Just like people have to go through trials to develop their character, America had to as well. Had these events not occurred, America would not have developed its principles it was founded upon. Throughout centuries, America has shown development from events that showed both equality and inequality (thesis).
It was Paine’s hope that in writing the pamphlet known as “The Crisis”, with all its rhetoric that it would persuade the colonists and those who still considered themselves loyal to their King and country, to seek their independence from England by whatever the means or cost. Paine’s use of recent events, such as the Stamp Act, to emphasize how “Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but to bind us in all cases whatsoever”; comparing the colonists to be bound as slaves and never to have free will to govern
In Thomas Paine's Common Sense, there are some similarities and differences in the tone as compared to Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. Paine's approach to his work contrasts that of Jefferson's. However, they still use the same basic techniques to making their feelings known, which include examining the problem, giving reasons for why it is a problem, and offering their opinion on the solution. Jefferson's and Paine's difference in their tone is evident when examining who they are addressing the documents to, the overall layout of their documents, and the relative importance of the documents.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson appeals to patriotism. Jefferson ensures this by persuading the colonists to become self-governing. He tries to let all of the people of the New World understand that they have protested and defended themselves against the British for all of the corrupt acts the British have committed upon the colonists. Jefferson’s tone in the Declaration of Independence portrays how tiresome he has grown of the British rule after all of the deception towards Americans. Included within the idea of patriotism, is the idea of loyalty to the fundamental values and principles underlying American democracy. Thomas Paine also provides patriotism to get advocates for the movement to separate from the British forces. Correspondingly, Paine persuades Americans that they will prosper in numerous areas without the control of the British saying, “Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? Whoever says No to this question is an independent, for independency means no more, than, whether we shall make our own laws…” (Paine). Paine uses a demanding tone to convince Americans that if they should accept the ties with Britain, it will bring ruin and distress to the