Thomas Paine Essay - 1437 Words

Thomas Paine For many years Thomas Paine was the epitome of American histories greatest drawback. In American history there is always that one detail that doesn’t make it into popular curriculum. Whether it be the point of view from the loosing side of a war, to the secret dalliances of a popular politician, to the truth of a times social opinion- the American student is taught only so much. The most proper, popular material makes it in; along with any major facts too commonly known to ignore. Anything else is liable to fall to the wayside without enough support from historians or academia. There is always room for the improvement of materials taught; so said, it would seem there is much more to know about Thomas Paine than is†¦show more content†¦Paine is nothing if not the son of both perseverance and necessity. His financial woes are the stuff on which young loan sharks are weaned. He grew up the soon of a poor corset maker, and knew only poverty most of his life. His employmen t track is littered with miss-starts in many fields, including stints as a teacher, a seaman, a tobacco shop owner and at various times a excise man. None of these were to be successful positions for Paine, giving him the start of a grudge towards England and its economy. After surviving one wife and separating from another, Paine was near his perceived end. Yet on the recommendation of a new acquaintance from America he decided to head west to the colonies, in hope of escaping the misery he’d endured in England. With nothing to his name but letters of recommendation (from the American whom he’d met in London), he arrived in Philadelphia, America in 1774. This American happened to be none other then Benjamin Franklin, and the prominence of Paines’ recommender gained him the position of editor of the newly founded Pennsylvanian Magazine. Here, Paine established himself as a radical thinker, a person unafraid to enter into the independence furor. Remembering the h ardships he had faced in England, Paine became he ideal American patriot. In 1776 Paine published the Common Sense pamphlet without signing his name to it. Demanding independence from England and the establishment of a strong American union, theShow MoreRelatedThomas Paine And John Paine Essay1835 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Thomas Paine was born to Joseph Paine and Francis Cocke Paine in January, 1737. Paine’s father was Quaker, and his mother was Anglican. The religious controversies haunted Paine throughout his life. His personal life ended in divorce and destitution. After barely avoiding debtor’s prison in 1774, a mutual friend introduced Paine to Benjamin. This introduction would change the course of Paine’s life. Franklin was immediately impressed with Paine and wrote a letter of introduction forRead MoreThe Pen Of Thomas Paine1357 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"These are the times that try men’s souls.† Rarely have there been as powerful and as meaningful words as these from the pen of Thomas Paine. Paine was one of the many men who experienced the harsh effects of the war. The war was deadly, more deadly than ever could be expressed through words. The extremes of the war were felt by all, although some felt the cruelty the war more than others. Men from many diffe rent walks of life and men from different sides of the war all had their souls â€Å"tried† byRead MoreCommon Sense by Thomas Paine1396 Words   |  6 PagesCommon Sense was written by Thomas Paine and published in 1776. Paine wrote it as a plea for the American people to break away from Britain and to declare independence from the king. He was asking his audience to take a step back and see that just because something is tradition, does not mean it is necessarily right. Paine wanted to show his readers that government and society is not the same thing, which is how most people viewed it. Society was something that people should want to have, whileRead MoreThomas Paine, an American Philosopher1267 Words   |  6 PagesAn American born philosopher, Thomas Paine, was a strong adherent for independence and was agnostic in the government. Born on January 29, 1737, Paine lived what we would now call a tough life (http://www.britannica.com). At a young age, Paine had to withd raw from school to help his father with work. He attempted many jobs such as a hunting smuggler and a collector of tobacco and liquor taxes (http://www.britannica.com). Paine failed at those other jobs he tried and in 1774, moved to PhiladelphiaRead MoreThe Age Of Reason By Thomas Paine1089 Words   |  5 PagesThomas Paine was an influential 18th-century writer of essays and pamphlets. Among them were The Age of Reason, regarding the place of religion in society; Rights of Man, a piece defending the French Revolution; and Common Sense, which was published during the American Revolution. Common Sense, Paine s most influential piece, brought his ideas to a vast audience, swaying (the otherwise undecided) public opinion to the view that independence from the British was a necessity. Thomas PaineRead MoreCommon Sense By Thomas Paine1036 Words   |  5 PagesSense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain. It was actually first published anonymously. Thomas Paine’s basic theme throughout Common Sense is that government is a â€Å"necessary evil†. His argument begins with more general reflections about government and religion, then progresses onto the specifics. There is a quote from the first page of Common Sense that lays out Paine s general conception of governmentRead MoreCommon Sense By Thomas Paine1438 Words   |  6 PagesKayla Boucher Doctor Hockin AMH 2010 22 January 2015 Common Sense The book Common Sense by Thomas Paine was an American pamphlet written during the American Revolution, which was around the time when America was trying to gain independence from Britain. Paine discusses government, religion, and colonial issues. In the first chapter Paine differentiates between the society and the government. He described the society as being positive and constructive and he described the government beingRead MoreThomas Paine And Common Sense1579 Words   |  7 PagesThomas Paine and Common Sense In colonial America, Britain’s colonies were subjected to many Parliamentary acts that were considered to be, by many of the colonists, oppressive. The Declaratory Act, the Coercive Acts, and numerous other tax-based acts were just a few of the many examples of the controlling behavior displayed by the British Parliament toward their North American colonies. This seemingly oppressive behavior by the British Parliament had not gone unnoticed by those outside ofRead MoreThomas Paine And His Father1718 Words   |  7 PagesPhilosopher Thomas Paine Thomas Paine was born in Norfolk, England on January 29, 1737 to a middle-income family. His father was a Quaker while his mother was an Anglican, therefore, constant family arguments about religion became part of Thomas life (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2). He did not have much of formal education as he quit schooling at the age of thirteen years and began working for his father. He was baptized in the Anglican Church that his mother attended. His father had forbiddenRead MoreCommon Sense By Thomas Paine770 Words   |  4 PagesThomas Paine first published Common Sense anonymously in 1776 and immediately became popular. I choose to read Common Sense by Thomas Paine, in order to know America and hopefully to understand the philosophy behind the founding of the country and how its government system was set up to function. In my opinion, one of the main reasons Thomas Paine’s pamphlet became favoured was because Paine used a lot of common sense opinions that most peop le could understand. In his pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas