The American Revolution was so much more than just a war, or a time in history. It was a time where America grew, and as the name suggests, revolutionized their way of thinking and governing. It was a time for some great thinkers to get their ideas out there, and these ideas helped shape America into what it is today. These revolutionary thinkers shared their ideas publicly, and that gave the people ways to revolutionize their thoughts as well. They flipped what they knew about government upside down. They turned against the ways of monarchy, realizing that all men should be equal and should not be under a tyrannical king any longer. While this revolution was extremely powerful, it was also a trial and error effort. The Patriots tried many Thomas Paine anonymously wrote “Common Sense”, a pamphlet discussing the ideas of independence from Britain. This helped the colonists put their frustrations with their government into words. Paine wrote it so simply that anyone could understand his ideas, and it was quite persuasive. He says, “The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth.” (Baym 326) Essentially, Thomas Paine explains how independence from the monarchy would be a really wonderful thing, and he ultimately explains that this independence is inevitable. He talks about how Britain is the parent of America. He compares America to a child growing independent of its parents. Although at one point, America was “flourish[ing] under her former connection with Great Britain”, he says that now it is time for America to grow independent. He uses the example of a child who has been raised on milk never moving on to eating meat. Although the child grew a lot on milk, that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t continue to grow by eating meat, by gaining more independence. (Baym 326) And he says that while Britain is their parent country, parents shouldn’t “devour their young,” or “make war upon their families.” (Baym 327) He’s using this extended parent example to show that America really doesn’t need a parent country anymore. This idea of total independence from Britain put a lot in perspective for Americans at the time. They became empowered and confident in this idea of Now, able to express their grievances and frustrations, the Colonies were able to essentially “stick it to the man” against Britain. Thomas Jefferson writes how Great Britain’s king had “impos[ed] taxes on [them] without [their] consent,” and “depriv[ed] [them] of the benefits of trial by jury.“ He goes on to say that the king had abolish[ed] [their] most valuable laws; and alter[ed] fundamentally the forms of [their] governments.” (Baym 342) This list of complaints goes on and on. The king took away all of their fundamental rights, and the colonists were fed up. Thomas Jefferson says that he didn’t just take away their rights, but he took away their basic human rights, and “waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him.” (Baym 343) These are very strong words from Thomas Jefferson, but they reflect the way these colonists felt. They were angry, and they had every right to
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Show MoreThe American Revolution shaped all of these issues throughout the time period. It shows how radical our government turned out to be. These impacts came to show America that we can be independent and control our own nation. I think that the American Revolution helped turned our country around for the good. It helped America gain the responsibility it needed in order to become an independent nation. Without the independence they gained during this time, we would not stand where we are today. It shaped our country in many ways that became helpful to us later down the road.
In conclusion, the American Revolution was very revolutionary. It was a huge milestone in American history. The war not only gave America their own independence from the most powerful country in the world, it gave the American government the basis of how it runs today and brought about many social and political changes. Although many historians see the war as a change of power from one greedy power to another, Americans wouldn’t have a democracy and citizens wouldn’t have the rights they have.
In conclusion, The American Revolution was not just another war, but for a lack of better words a teenager fighting their parents to receive independence. Though, Britain felt it was an attack from the colonies they desperately tried to protect with misguided actions such as imposing what was considered unconstitutional taxes. If it was not for the colonist of that time banding together The United States would not be the world super power it is today. The American Revolution was essentially the beginning of something great, and a defining moment in establishing the identity of the U.S as a separate entity.
The American Revolution was a dramatic change in the political, social, and economic system of New England. It was not a bloody revolution; on the contrary it is unique because it was not as violence as other revolutions we know (French, Russia and China).
The American Revolution was a necessary part of history; it was a revolution that was a political catastrophe that took place from 1775 to 1783. The revolution originated from a conflict between the 13 North American colonies and the colonial government that was represented by the British crown. It is clear that the American revolution was irrepressible the 13 colonies were unwilling to follow the British ruling while the British were adamant on having control. The American revolution was fueled by religious, political, and economic conflict. The revolution became an international conflict, it inspired other countries to gain independence. Without Americas independence things would be vastly different. Americans influence on the world due to the war have been profound. The revolution gave our country, its core beliefs, including freedom, equal opportunities, and freedom of speech.
Considering the notion effectively done with, Paine proceeds with the next: “[Great Britain] has protected us.” He wastes no time in denouncing the motivations behind Britain’s protection. The sentimental attachment some Loyalists held towards Great Britain were only reciprocated in the form of interest in trade and dominion, with little fondness for the colony itself. As Paine says, “[Great Britain] would have defended Turkey from the same motive,” implying that would abandon America for Turkey, the common enemy of most Europeans, should the Turks supply them with more commerce than the colonies. Great Britain’s protection is no more than an insurance that no other country shares the riches of the American land, a policy which has only dragged America into enmity with nations she would otherwise have no quarrel with. (Paine 456) Moving forward, Paine addresses the popular argument of Britain being America’s parent country. With what appears to be a dryly humorous scoff, he divulges that if such a notion were true, it would only be added to the demerit of the so called “parent country,” as even the lowest of societies do not turn upon their own young or families. However, he continues to state that the assertion is
In Common Sense, Thomas Paine exemplifies how Americans were tied down to Britain because they were a dependent country with a goal of one day becoming independent. America was once a country that
Thomas Paine, was, by far, one of the most influential players in the movement toward and independent America. Paine is most known for his pamphlet, Common Sense. This piece of writing was raw and unlike any pamphlet of its time, it said what everyone was thinking and didn’t beat around the bush in an attempt to be politically correct. He brought forth ideas that he felt were the root of the problem with Great Britain- monarchy and hereditary rule. He went on to say that the best way to fix a government such as Britain’s was to create a new one with a heavy focus on republican ideals. Perhaps the most important contribution Paine made, whether people acknowledged it or not, was that he discussed and contemplated the issue of independence rather than running from it. He weighed the pros and cons and hypothesized that “American’s were too afraid to embrace Independence. Not only because they thought better of the old regime than it deserved, but also because they had no plans for a new one”(Maier 32). Paine was of the opinion that people were too scared to take that first step because they had no idea what their futures would look like. He proposed multiple ways to make a stronger, fairer government, and centered his propositions on one idea: “the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier
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
Thomas Paine wrote the Common Sense and in this pamphlet he wrote about America’s separation and independence from Great Britain. His argument stated that America is a large continent and we are in charge of our own fate and direction (Paine 107). Paine further explained that people migrated to America to escape the control of the King and his laws. Paine introduced a theory when comparing America to a small island, that it is possible if separated we can come together and make our own laws and run the country as we see fit (Paine 109). Paine believes that we are no longer in need of Britain’s help and that we can eventually form alliances with other countries as we stand alone outside of Britain’s control.
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.
Paine believed that America needed to break free of the British clutches. He spoke out against slavery and joined the army to help fight the war. He did not agree with hereditary monarchy and wrote another paper to argue this point (Franklin 321). Paine was very aware of his criticizers, and worked very hard to persuade them toward his way of thinking. In his pamphlet Common Sense he writes: "I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect"(Paine 323). Paine states the following argument: ."..for I answer roundly, that America would have flourished as much, and proba...
During 1776, the United States was at war to gain its own independence from the hands of the tyrant King George III and his kingdom. As the fightt continued, the spirits of the U.S. soldiers began to die out as the nightmares of winter crawled across the land. Thomas Paine, a journalist, hoped to encourage the soldiers back into the fight through one of his sixteen pamphlets, “The American Crisis (No.1)”. In order to rebuild the hopes of the downhearted soldiers, Thomas Paine establishes himself as a reliable figure, enrages them with the crimes of the British crown, and, most importantly evokes a sense of culpability.
In the article “The American Crisis” by Thomas Paine, He makes several arguments throughout the article but I think these three points are the main supports of the article.His first argument was that even though America claimed independence, it is still being run by Britain like we were their still slaves.With an army to backup their tyranny, Britain claims that it had a right to tax America and "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER".His second main argument is about how the center settlements have a high vicinity of supporters of the Tory political group, or "Tories," as he alludes to them, and this is the reason the center settlements have been made the "seat of war" by Britain.He openly declares his feelings clearly about the Tories when
The colonial period in american literature is a time where the writings that came out weren’t a lot about emotions, but about how history, and the way things were in the past. Something that seemed very important was how persuasive the people became about separating themselves from the british. People wrote not only essays, but also used speeches to help get to a larger crowd of people.