Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thomas Paine Defines America
I believe Thomas Paine did the most to define America. He was very outspoken about Great Britain and talked about how they had bad intentions with the future of America. He also believed that America could be, and should be independent when he says some people say “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. Nothing could be more fallacious than this kind of argument” (pg 327). He believed that America would have been fine, if not better off, it Great Britain hadn’t tried to move in. Paine wrote “Common Sense” which was intended for the average person to make them aware of what Great Britain was doing and why they shouldn’t settle for being under Great Britain's power. I think taking the initiative to come out and write this document set the tone for Americans right to express their opinion. The average person might have had the same thoughts as Paine did but they didn’t come out and say anything. Without Paine, and others like him, I don’t think we would have the freedom to say what we think is right or wrong. We would be more like many countries today that live in fear of their leaders.
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You make some really good points about Thomas Paine, he really defined America completely. That would be awful if we had to live our lives in fear of our leaders. I know that I couldn’t live like that one bit. I come from a family that’s extremely diverse and outspoken and we wouldn’t be like that if it wasn’t for people like Thomas Paine. He was one of those people that were outspoken and thank god that he was!
ReplyDeleteI agree that Thomas Paine was a great pioneer in defining our country. He really helped with freedom of speech and opened doors to others who had something to say and didn't have the guts that Paine had. I can only imagine how different our country would be if we didn't come together and stand up to Britain. I think that this would have eventually happened but the way Paine went about it made all the difference in the outcome.
ReplyDeleteThomas Paine did a great job breaking things down so that everyone especially the common man could understand. He was also a ground breaker for the freedom of speech. What he did really shows how powerful speech can be. It’s no wonder that so many tyrants and dictators do not allow free speech in the countries.
ReplyDeleteI also think Thomas Paine did a lot to define America as we know it today. By writing in language the common people could understand, he played a big part in getting the word out that being under the control of Britian was not good. It was holding America back from being the great nation it could be. Even though he faced charges of treason from the British, he took it upon himself to use the power of freedom of speech. You are right that if there weren't men like him at the time, maybe we wouldn't have this freedom today. In writing this, he had a vision of America as free from Britian, making their own laws and prospering.
ReplyDeleteYou raised a lot of great points about Thomas Paine. I like what you said about him really defining the freedom of expression in action by writing his pamphlets. Obviously what he was doing was considered treason by the crown, but you're right about how in so doing, he was showing Americans how they could and should be standing up for themselves in hard times, that no one could do it for them. Nice post.
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