Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737 at Thetford, Norfolk, England. He was known as the Anglo-American political philosopher. He lived in a poor family where his father, a Quaker, was only a corsetiere and his mother, an Anglican, was an ordinary housewife with abnormal behavior and very moody. It is said that Thomas was close to his father more than his mother because you can notice in his writings some of the quotations were based on his father conviction. According to the Oldys, Thomas was never baptized because of the belief of his parents.
Thomas went to school in "Grammar School," where the son of the rector sold his talent, Williamson, to a politician. Thomas was aware that he lived in a world of brutality and violence. He was a member of the Quaker club but he was not welcome because of discrimination in the club, even in churches he has been treated badly because of his belief. His club because of their belief deprived him to study Latin. According to the online source, http://www.american-buddha.com/paine.bio.a.htm?signup, regarding his childhood days:
"In Paine's boyhood [says Mr. Millington in a letter I have from him] the town (about 2,000 inhabitants) possessed a corporation with mayor, aldermen, sword-bearers, macemen, recorder. The corporation was a corrupt body, under the dominance of the Duke of Grafton, a prominent member of the Whig government. Both members of Parliament (Hon. C. Fitzroy, and Lord Augustus Fitzroy) were nominees of Gafton. The people had no interest and no power, and I do not think politics were of any account in Paine's childhood. The Lent Assizes for the Eastern Circuit were held here, and Paine would be familiar with the procedure and pomp of a court of justice. He would also be familiar with the sight of...
Common Sense The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines common sense as: "the unreflective opinions of ordinary people," and "sound and prudent but often unsophisticated judgment." While this definition is reflective of the nature of common sense, it does not begin to reveal the complexities of the subjectivity of the term, and the tendency to cite common sense as a justification for stereotypes, both of which reflect the social perspective of the speaker. The
Indeed, in retrospect, my personal issues, no matter how stringent they might have been, should not have stayed in the way of exercising my common sense in the relationship with the rest of the individuals. From this perspective, it is most likely that I should have followed what the son of the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, C.E. Stowe said in relation to common sense, that "common sense is the knack
Common sense could, at face value, have several definitions applied to it: Firstly, it is 'common' in that all agree to the idea and accept it as obvious. No amount of research or investigation need go into establishing its existence or reasons for its propositions in order that one accept it. It is self-evident, therefore of sound judgment, therefore, no doubt, accepted by the 'normal' rational person. Using a circular
Common Sense & Fed # Thomas Paine: Common Sense Thomas Paine argues in Common Sense that America should declare independence from Great Britain because submission to, or dependence on, Great Britain tends to directly involve the colonies in European wars and quarrels and sets them at odds with nations that would otherwise "seek our friendship, and against whom, we have neither anger nor complaint."[footnoteRef:1] [1: Thomas Paine, "Common Sense." Constitution Society (1776).
Most nations have let slip the opportunity, and have been compelled to receive laws from their conquerors (Paine). Democracy, the republic, voting, the Supreme Court, debate, etc. are no longer foreign concepts -- the great American "experiment" of 1776 still exists, so contemporary readers do not find issues of individual liberty and law to be either controversial or strange. Common Sense was a seminal event in the way the entire
" To quote the Encyclopedia of World Biography's entry on Thomas Paine (2004) "his contributions included an attack on slavery and the slave trade. His literary eloquence received recognition with the appearance of his 79-page pamphlet titled Common Sense (1776). Here was a powerful exhortation for immediate independence. Americans had been quarreling with Parliament; Paine now redirected their case toward monarchy and to George III himself -- a 'hardened, sullen tempered
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