REER - Road to Revolution (Lesson)
Road to Revolution
“Common Sense”
In January 1776, patriot philosopher Thomas Paine published a pamphlet (50 pages) called “Common Sense.”
This small pamphlet had a big effect and moved many Americans to support independence from Great Britain. Colonists were persuaded by the logic of Paine's arguments, including that the Atlantic Ocean was too wide to allow Britain to rule America as well as an American government could, that it was foolish to think an island could rule a continent, and that if Britain were America's mother country, that made Britain's actions all the worse because no mother would treat her children so badly.
Paine’s treatise sold 120,000 copies in just a few months and colonists shared the pamphlet with neighbors and friends. One reason the pamphlet was so popular was that, in an age when scholarly writing was very “lofty” and difficult to understand, Paine’s writing style was easily understood by the average person.
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in American (and even world) history. The document has inspired revolutions for freedom around the world in the years following the American Revolution. (Examples include the independence movements in South America in the early 19th century and the French Revolution in 1798.)
Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft and then made revisions suggested by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and others. Because the Declaration addressed a worldwide audience, its language was made simple and direct so people everywhere would understand and sympathize with the colonists' cause. The text borrowed phrases from the writings of English philosopher John Locke and repeated legal arguments made famous by French political thinker Charles de Montesquieu. This borrowed language helped convince readers that American independence was supported by the ideas of important philosophers and legal thinkers.
View the presentation below that goes over the events leading up to the American Revolution from 1770.
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