History 1775-78

BACKGROUND PAPER

ON

History and Myth

1. What if I told you that with a stroke of a pen you could change the course of human history? Thomas Paine did in fact have that effect on the American Revolution and the perceptions of government role during his time and today. His contributions to our nation’s creation were of great importance. His knowledge and use of writing helped impact the creation of the Declaration of Independence. The individual and the creation of some of our nation’s most important documents set the stage for who and what we are today as a people. Now to understand what Thomas Paine did, we must first take a look at the man.

2. The work of Thomas Paine has far reaching effects on our culture where he came from helped shape who and how he presented ideas. What made Thomas Paine’s works so amazing is he migrated to the colonies in 1774 with the aide and assistance of Benjamin Franklin.1 This random and almost unverified interaction with Benjamin Franklin allowed Paine to make it to the colonies and eventually led to Paine’s writing. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense helped galvanize the colonies around the idea of revolution and also helped explain the case for independence. . Thomas Paine’s mind set can be seen in Common Sense’s Preface where he states “who the author of this production is, is wholly unnecessary to the public, as the object for attention is the doctrine itself, not the man.”2 He expands on this further by stating he is not connected to either party a clear correlation can be drawn to the lack of time he has spent in the colonies. Thomas Paine was using his own thinking to justify and explain to all Americans why a break with Great Britain was needed. At the request of George Washington Paine began work on the American Crisis letters which were meant to help motivate and inspire soldiers and colonists. This brings us to the creation of our nation the special thing that happened over 236 years ago.

3. The...