preview

Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson Essay example

Decent Essays

Thomas Paine was one of the great supporters of the American Revolution. He was a journalist and used his pen and paper to urge the public to break free from Great Brittan. He wrote anonymously, yet addressed the public as he spoke out about his beliefs. The first pamphlet he published, influencing independence from Brittan, was called Common Sense 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 …show more content…

Moving to the new world was like escaping to an "asylum" for those who sought religious freedom (Paine 324). Paine also believed that we would be allies with the rest of Europe if we broke out ties with England. American trade suffered every time Europe had a war that involved England (Paine 325). Although Thomas Paine had great thoughts and ideas, it wasn't until Thomas Jefferson helped write the Declaration of Independence, that America came to his side of thinking. Even with the powerful names involved in the Declaration of Independence, there were still several items stricken from the final document that were in the original. For example: South Carolina and Georgia were not ready to abolish slavery; and this was an item that Paine felt very strongly about and Jefferson had in the original report (Jefferson 337). While several thoughts were stricken from the Declaration of Independence, it was still a great start to the separation from Brittan. Jefferson also thought that the monarchy in England had gone bad. He describes the king in vivid detail: "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people" (Jefferson 339). These comments come just after some people call England the "Mother" (Paine 324). The contrasting illustration is amazing. Jefferson discusses wanting to be an individual country

Get Access