Free Essays on Thomas Paine

The Writings of Thomas Paine were crucial to the execution and success of the American Revolution. In the pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine defines the American Revolution. He speaks of man’s natural right to govern themselves and King George’s actions not protecting but suppressing these rights. This type of talk was controversial to Congress who at this point was trying to patch relations with England rather than start a Revolution. Congress did not believe that the colonies could assemble a sufficient army to defeat the British. These reservations did not last very long though. Widespread support among citizens made Revolution a reality (Foerster, 189). Paine contributed to the Revolution in two ways. First and foremost his pamphlet Common Sense challenged Americans to stand up and fight for independence. In this essay Paine wrote of the natural right of man to govern themselves instead of living under control of George III. Paine spoke out boldly against George III, more so than anyone before him. Paine states that not only George III was corrupt but also the entire institution of monarchy was inherently evil. He said that, â€Å"a government of our own is our natural right. O ye that love mankind, ye that dare oppose not only tyranny but the tyrant stand forth†(Garraty 118). This call to arms spread through the country like wildfire. The talk of revolution was on the tongues of almost all of the colonists. After the release of this pamphlet the mood of the great debate changed drastically. The continental Congress began to speak and act more deliberately. In the month of March, Congress turned American Privateers agai! nst the British. Two months later, Congress encouraged states to set up their own government and Constitution. All of these things were sparked by Paine’s, Common Sense. Paine’s second great contribution to the revolution was the â€Å"American Crisis.† With these letters, Paine chall... Free Essays on Thomas Paine Free Essays on Thomas Paine The Life and Writings of Thomas Paine Thomas Paine was one of the most important minds in American History. Through his pamphlet Common Sense, he revolutionized political writing, by bringing his message to the most humble of people. He did so by making a clear, concise document, which could be understood by anyone. Thomas Paine was born on January 29th 1737 in Norfolk England. His father, Joseph, was a Quaker staymaker (he made women’s corsets) and also had a small farm so he could afford to send Tom to grammar school. Tom’s mother was Francis Cooke, an Anglican, who seemed to have little or no influence on Tom’s upbringing. Tom stayed in school until he was sixteen when he left home to join the privateer ship The Terrible, commanded by a fellow named Captain Death. Needless to say, his father was very concerned about his career choice, so he tracked Tom down and convinced him to come back home and continue his staymaker apprenticeship. Tom stayed with his apprenticeship for about three years until the beginning of the Seven Years’ War, whereupon he ran away and joined the privateer The King of Prussia. This would prove to be another failed career choice seeing as that he served on the ship for a maximum of one year. After leaving The King of Prussia, he resumed his staymaking business in London. Then in 1759, at the age of twenty-two, he married a maid named Mary Lambert. He then moved with his wife to Margate, a province outside of London, whereupon she died of unknown causes. Some historians believe she died during childbirth, but there is no record of her death. After Mary’s death, Tom decided to pick up her father’s profession as a customs officer. It was a hard job and offered minimal wages, however it offered Tom a break from staymaking. He held the job for three years until he was fired for stamping some uninspected goods. Tom went back to staymaking and served as a grammar school Engl... Free Essays on Thomas Paine Thomas Paine was an Anglo-American political philosopher whose writings had great influence during two disturbances in the 18th century: the American Revolution and the French Revolution. He remained poor throughout his life. At the age of 13 he began working for his father, and at 19 he went to sea. Paine returned to England shortly thereafter and moved through various jobs, eventually becoming an excise officer. As an officer he had to collect taxes from smugglers he tracked down. He was dismissed in 1772 for publishing a document calling for an increase in wages as a means of reducing corruption in government service. His personal life did not fare much better; his first wife died and he later legally separated from his second wife. In London Paine met and befriended Benjamin Franklin, who was serving as a representative of the American colonies in Great Britain. On Franklin's advice, and equipped with letters of introduction from him, Paine immigrated to Philadelphia in 1774. He became an editor on the Pennsylvania Magazine and also anonymously published writings, including poetry. One of his publications was the article "African Slavery in Americ! a," in which he condemned the practice of slavery. Paine published his most famous work, the 50-page pamphlet, Common Sense, on January 10, 1776. In a dramatic, rhetorical style, the document asserted that the American colonies received no advantage from Great Britain, which was exploiting them, and that every consideration of common sense called for the colonies to become independent and establish a republican government of their own. The document went on to criticize the monarchy as an institution. Published anonymously, the pamphlet sold more than 500,000 copies and helped encourage, with comments such as "The birthday of a new world is at hand," the writing of the Declaration of Independence six months later. Paine wrote a series of pamphlets between 1776 and 1783 e... Free Essays on Thomas Paine Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737 at Thetford, Norfolk in England. After a short education, he started to work, at first for his father.. During this time Thomas Paine was an unsuccesfull man.. In 1774, he met Benjamin Franklin in London, toldhim to emigrate to America. Paine arrived in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774. He started out as a publicist, he first published his African Slavery in America, in 1775, criticizing slavery in America as being unjust and inhumaine. At this time he also had become co-editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine In Philadelphia, Paine had sensed the rise of tension, and the spirit of rebellion, that had steadily mounted in the Colonies after the Boston Tea Partyand when the fightings had started, in April 1775, with the battles of Lexington and Concord. In Paine's view the Colonies had all the right to revolt against a government that imposed taxes on them but which did not give them the right of representation in the Parliament at Westminster. But he went even further: for him there was no reason for the Colonies to stay dependent on England. On January 10, 1776 Paine formulated his ideas on american independence in his pamphlet Common Sense. In his Common Sense, Paine states that sooner or later independence from England must come, because America had lost touch with the mother country. In his words, all the arguments for separation of England are based on nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments and common sense. Government was necessary evil that could only become safe when it was representative and altered by frequent elections. The function of government in society ought to be only regulating and therefore as simple as possible. Not suprisingly, but nevertheless remarkable was his call for a declaration of independence. Due to the many copies sold (500.000) Paine's influence on the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 is eminent. Another sign of his great influen... Free Essays on Thomas Paine The Writings of Thomas Paine were crucial to the execution and success of the American Revolution. In the pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine defines the American Revolution. He speaks of man’s natural right to govern themselves and King George’s actions not protecting but suppressing these rights. This type of talk was controversial to Congress who at this point was trying to patch relations with England rather than start a Revolution. Congress did not believe that the colonies could assemble a sufficient army to defeat the British. These reservations did not last very long though. Widespread support among citizens made Revolution a reality (Foerster, 189). Paine contributed to the Revolution in two ways. First and foremost his pamphlet Common Sense challenged Americans to stand up and fight for independence. In this essay Paine wrote of the natural right of man to govern themselves instead of living under control of George III. Paine spoke out boldly against George III, more so than anyone before him. Paine states that not only George III was corrupt but also the entire institution of monarchy was inherently evil. He said that, â€Å"a government of our own is our natural right. O ye that love mankind, ye that dare oppose not only tyranny but the tyrant stand forth†(Garraty 118). This call to arms spread through the country like wildfire. The talk of revolution was on the tongues of almost all of the colonists. After the release of this pamphlet the mood of the great debate changed drastically. The continental Congress began to speak and act more deliberately. In the month of March, Congress turned American Privateers agai! nst the British. Two months later, Congress encouraged states to set up their own government and Constitution. All of these things were sparked by Paine’s, Common Sense. Paine’s second great contribution to the revolution was the â€Å"American Crisis.† With these letters, Paine chall...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Status of His Dream Today

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Status of His Dream Today On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people, mostly African Americans, gathered at the National Mall for The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They came to express their discontent with the persistent racism of the nation, particularly that of the southern states where Jim Crow laws maintained racially separate and unequal societies. This gathering is considered a major event within the Civil Rights movement, and a catalyst for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for subsequent protests that followed, and for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This day is most well remembered, though, for a spontaneous description of a better future given by The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during his famous I Have a Dream speech. Prompted by Mahalia Jackson, who urged him to break from his prepared words to tell the crowd about his dream, King said: I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.  I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.  I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.  I have a dream today.  I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, w ith its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. The Philosophy and Practicalities of Dr. Kings Dream Dr. Kings dream of a society no longer plagued by racism reflected the one he and other members of the Civil Rights movement hoped would be the result of collective efforts to end systemic racism. Taking account of the many initiatives that Dr. King was a part of, and leader to, during his life, one can see the components and bigger picture of this dream. The dream included an end to racial segregation; an unimpeded right to vote and protection from racial discrimination in electoral processes; equal labor rights and protection from racial discrimination in the workplace; an end to police brutality; an end to racial discrimination in the housing market; minimum wage for all;  and economic reparations for all people hurt by the nations history of racism. The foundation of Dr. Kings work was an understanding of the connection between racism and economic inequality. He knew that Civil Rights legislation, useful though it would be, would not erase 500 years of economic injustice. So, his vision of a just society was premised on economic justice writ-large. This manifested in the Poor Peoples Campaign, and his critique of government funding of wars instead of public services and social welfare programs. A virulent critic of capitalism, he advocated for a systemic redistribution of resources. The Status of the Dream Today: Educational Segregation More than fifty years later, if we take stock of the various aspects of Dr. Kings dream, it is clear that it remains largely unrealized.  Though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed racial segregation in schools, and a painful and bloody process of desegregation followed,  a May 2014 report from The Civil Rights Project at the University of California-Los Angeles found that schools have regressed to racial segregation over the last couple of decades. The study found that most white students attend schools that are 73 percent white, that the percentage of Black students in mostly minority schools has risen over the last two decades, that Black and Latino students are mostly sharing the same schools, and that the rise in segregation has been most dramatic for Latino students.  The study also found that segregation plays out across both race and class lines, with white and Asian students primarily attending middle-class schools, while black and Latino students are relegated to po or schools. Other studies show that black students face discrimination within schools that leads to them receiving more frequent and harsher discipline than their peers, which disrupts their educational process. The Status of the Dream Today: Voter Disenfranchisement Despite voter protections, racism still prohibits equal participation in democracy. As A. Gordon, a civil rights attorney wrote for The Root, passage of strict voter ID laws in 16 states are likely to bar many Black people from voting, as they are less likely to have state issued ID than persons of other races, and are more likely to be asked for ID than are white voters. Cuts to early voting opportunities are also likely to impact the Black population, who are more likely to take advantage of this service. Gordon also points out that implicit racial bias is likely to impact decisions made by those serving voters when issues of eligibility come up, and noted that a recent study found that legislators in support of stricter voter ID laws were more likely to respond to questions from a constituent when that person had a white name versus a name signaling Latino or African American heritage. The Status of the Dream Today: Workplace Discrimination While de jure  discrimination in the work place and hiring processes has been outlawed, de facto  racism has been documented by numerous studies over the years. Findings include that potential employers are more likely to respond to applicants with names they believe signal white race than those of other races; employers are  more likely to promote white men over all others;  and, faculty at universities are more likely to respond to prospective graduate students when they believe that person is a white male. Further, the persistent racial wage gap continues to show that the labor of white people is valued more than that of blacks and Latinos. The Status of the Dream Today: Housing Segregation Like education, the housing market remains segregated on the basis of race and class.  A 2012 study by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development  and the Urban Institute found that, though overt discrimination is mostly a thing of the past, subtle forms persist, and have clear negative consequences. The study found that real estate agents and housing providers routinely and systemically show more available properties to white people than they do to persons of all other races, and that this occurs across the nation. Because they have fewer options to choose from, racial minorities face higher housing costs. Other studies have found that Black and Latino homebuyers were disproportionately directed to unstable subprime mortgages, and as a result, were  far more likely than whites to lose their homes during the home mortgage foreclosure crisis. The Status of the Dream Today: Police Brutality In terms of police violence, since 2014, nationwide attention has turned to this deadly problem. Protests against the killing of unarmed and innocent black men and boys prompted many social scientists to revisit and republish data that show unequivocally that Black men and boys are racially profiled by police, and arrested, assaulted, and killed by officers at rates that far exceed those of other races. Critical work by the Department of Justice has brought improvements to many police departments across the nation, but the unending news of police killings of Black men and boys shows that the problem is widespread and persistent. The Status of the Dream Today: Economic Inequality Finally, Dr. Kings dream of economic justice for our nation is equally unrealized. Though we have minimum wage laws, the shift in work from stable, full-time jobs to contract and part-time work with minimum pay has left half of all Americans in or on the brink of poverty. The nightmare that King saw in the discrepancy between spending on war and spending on public services and social welfare has only gotten worse since then. And, instead of economic restructuring in the name of justice, we now live in the most economically unequal time in modern history, with the richest one percent controlling about half of all the worlds wealth. Black and Latino people continue to lag far behind white people and Asian Americans in terms of income and family wealth, which negatively impacts their quality of life, health, access to education, and overall life chances. We All Must Fight for the Dream The resurgent black Civil Rights movement, operating under the slogan Black Lives Matter, seeks to raise awareness of and combat these problems. But making Dr. Kings dream into a reality is not the work of black people alone, and it will never be a reality so long as those of us who are not burdened by racism continue to ignore its existence and consequences. Fighting racism, and creating a just society, are things for which each and every one of us bears responsibility- especially those of us who have been its beneficiaries.