15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
==== ''Common Sense'' ====
[[File:commonsense.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|Cover of the pamphlet, ''Common Sense.'']]In an ironic twist, colonists who were once filled with British pride were now consumed with American patriotism. When Americans realized they were would never be considered equals to with Englishmen, they resolved to find that sense of equality among themselves; while concurrently denying such liberties to those who were deemed inferior. Such men as John and Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry courageously paved the path to freedom for white men in the colonies. Arguably, the man most instrumental in the movement towards independence, and perhaps the forgotten Founding Father, was Thomas Paine. [[File:commonsense.jpg|thumbnail|300px|Cover of the pamphlet, ''Common Sense.'']]
An Englishman born in 1737, Paine arrived in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774, at the urging of Benjamin Franklin. Paine defined the origin of government as “a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world.”<ref>Thomas Paine, “Common Sense,” 1776, in ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486296024/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486296024&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=d78cfe9337d9078ded91c6e41d82b646 Common Sense, Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine]'' (New York: Signet, 2003), 7.</ref> He believed governmental representation was a right for every citizen and wrote his pamphlet, ''Common Sense'', in a language accessible to all. Through Paine’s words, poor white citizens were able to envision a role in the electoral process and a voice in the legislature. For generations, these people were seen as intellectually inferior to the gentry class and were therefore deemed unworthy of consideration. Although far less educated than the elites, the lower classes were not necessarily less intelligent. Thomas Paine recognized their grasp of politics and understanding of freedom.
