During the time leading up to the Revolution, tensions ran high among both the government and civilians. Factions of groups, Patriots, Rebels and even housewives, were making their voices heard throughout the community. Two of the most powerful writers during the time were Thomas Paine, the son of a Quaker, and Mercy Otis Warren, the daughter of a farmer, attorney, and eventual member of the House of Representatives, Colonel Otis. Although from two separate walks of life, both writers had a hand in shaping America into what she is today.
Thomas Paine 's most memorable works, Common Sense, not only impacted high and lowborn alike, it earned him an honorable spot as one of the Founding Fathers of The United States. In the years after colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor in protest for unfair practices at the hands of Britain, Parliament turned to stronger measures to exert control over the infant country of America. The over all mentality of Britain was that “...the colonists had to be taught they were truly subordinate. [1]” This was done by heavy taxes, the prescience of British troops and changes to the rule of law. Understandably, the colonists were on edge, fed up with the monarchy, and looking for someone to blame. Common Sense,a pamphlet that was printed in January 1776, was reprinted over 150,000 times in multiple locations [2]. It was so popular that even Paine did not anticipate his words would resonate with so much of the public. Countryman attributes his success by a “combination of passion, insight and vivid yet straight forward prose. [2]” Up to this point the majority of authors were high born, highly educated and wrote with an air of aloofness that was hard for the common farmer to relate with Unlike those authors, Paine wrote in a very simple yet concise voice, that he was simple to understand. His ideals and opinions were some of which many may have thought about but never spoken aloud. Although Paine did not attack any one policy over another, he did challenge the entire structure of Britishness, subordination and the monarchy [3]. On page 135 of Common Sense, Paine writes: “...society in every state is a blessing, but government even in it 's best state is but a necessary evil ' in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without a government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. [4]” Meaning that the communities suffering at the hands of the government was, in part, their own fault since it was the community who elected them into office. A sentiment that tends to resonate deep within citizens who were sick of being taxed to death while their freedoms were restricted by the very same people they elected. Thomas Paine may have not been a signature on the Constitute itself, but he was one of the major contributors who greatly influenced the framework that led to the freedoms that still exist today. Many of his outlines and recommendations from Common Sense can be found in the the words of the Constitution. Another major contributor to the political literary scene was Mercy Otis Warren. …show more content…
Warren grew up in a household that was rife with political ideology and staunch patriotic views. For Warren, the corruption of men and the intrigue of politics was nothing new for her. Her father, James Otis Sr., having been a judge and an elected House of Representatives official, and heavily invested in the political career of her husband James Warren, it seemed natural that Warren enter the political realm in one way or another. While being an active part of her husbands political career, Warren took up her pen and gave her voice an arena in which she warned her fellow citizens about the absolute corruption of her family 's life long nemesis, Thomas Hutchinson, the newly elected Governor of Massachusetts. Warren 's works were published anonymously in two separate installments in the Boston Newspaper, the Massachusetts Spy [5]. The title of her work was, The Adulateur, a satirical play written with thinly veiled insults that
Thomas Paine 's most memorable works, Common Sense, not only impacted high and lowborn alike, it earned him an honorable spot as one of the Founding Fathers of The United States. In the years after colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor in protest for unfair practices at the hands of Britain, Parliament turned to stronger measures to exert control over the infant country of America. The over all mentality of Britain was that “...the colonists had to be taught they were truly subordinate. [1]” This was done by heavy taxes, the prescience of British troops and changes to the rule of law. Understandably, the colonists were on edge, fed up with the monarchy, and looking for someone to blame. Common Sense,a pamphlet that was printed in January 1776, was reprinted over 150,000 times in multiple locations [2]. It was so popular that even Paine did not anticipate his words would resonate with so much of the public. Countryman attributes his success by a “combination of passion, insight and vivid yet straight forward prose. [2]” Up to this point the majority of authors were high born, highly educated and wrote with an air of aloofness that was hard for the common farmer to relate with Unlike those authors, Paine wrote in a very simple yet concise voice, that he was simple to understand. His ideals and opinions were some of which many may have thought about but never spoken aloud. Although Paine did not attack any one policy over another, he did challenge the entire structure of Britishness, subordination and the monarchy [3]. On page 135 of Common Sense, Paine writes: “...society in every state is a blessing, but government even in it 's best state is but a necessary evil ' in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without a government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. [4]” Meaning that the communities suffering at the hands of the government was, in part, their own fault since it was the community who elected them into office. A sentiment that tends to resonate deep within citizens who were sick of being taxed to death while their freedoms were restricted by the very same people they elected. Thomas Paine may have not been a signature on the Constitute itself, but he was one of the major contributors who greatly influenced the framework that led to the freedoms that still exist today. Many of his outlines and recommendations from Common Sense can be found in the the words of the Constitution. Another major contributor to the political literary scene was Mercy Otis Warren. …show more content…
Warren grew up in a household that was rife with political ideology and staunch patriotic views. For Warren, the corruption of men and the intrigue of politics was nothing new for her. Her father, James Otis Sr., having been a judge and an elected House of Representatives official, and heavily invested in the political career of her husband James Warren, it seemed natural that Warren enter the political realm in one way or another. While being an active part of her husbands political career, Warren took up her pen and gave her voice an arena in which she warned her fellow citizens about the absolute corruption of her family 's life long nemesis, Thomas Hutchinson, the newly elected Governor of Massachusetts. Warren 's works were published anonymously in two separate installments in the Boston Newspaper, the Massachusetts Spy [5]. The title of her work was, The Adulateur, a satirical play written with thinly veiled insults that