Revolutionary+-+3rd

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=Revolutionary Period of American Literature (1750-1800) = = = = an interview with Thomas Paine =

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"The cause of Ame////rica is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind//. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of which, their affections are interested. The laying a country desolate with fire and sword, declaring war against the natural rights of all mankind, and extirpating the defenders thereof from the face of the earth, is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feeling..." Common Sense by Thomas Paine, 1776

Introduction
Thomas Paine was born 1737 in Thetford, England. He was a writer, radical, inventor, and overall revolutionary. His unsatisfactory experience in England led him to support the American Revolution, and his works such as //Common Sense,// and //The Crisis// greatly influenced the solidification of American independence. He exemplifies his time period in that he believed in natural justice and held a vision of a government that was composed of the people. This page attempts to reconstruct the revolutionary period in the eyes of Thomas Paine as a writer.

[[image:http://www.hawaiilibertychronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/thomaspaine.jpg width="259" height="401" align="left" caption="Thomas Paine"]]
//The year is 1800////. We sit in a cottage in New York across from preeminent founding father Thomas Paine, aged 63, who wears a plain brown suit and no wig. His hair is silvered and face lined with age, his eyes intelligent yet humorous. The cottage itself is small, painted dark brown with light blue shutters. The room we are in is simple, walls// //white and furniture plain. And thus, we begin...//

What are the most defining characteristics of the revolutionary period?
I must say the most distinguishing attribute of revolutionary literature is its political nature. Few wrote purely for the sake of entertainment or religion, and what man had the hours in a day to spare on frivolous nonsense when the birth of a nation was at stake? Because many politicians knew each other personally, both public personalities and personal values were factors in the interactions between founding fathers. The mood at the time was one of rebel lion and later uncertainty, passionate but tempered as well by the reason and intellectual thought of the Enlightenment. Many of the published writings of the time were directed to the public, such as John Dickinson's //Letters to a Farmer in Pennsylvania// in 1767, which reasoned that British policies deprived the colonies of their rights and urged them to unite. In the later years, initially as a result of the weakness of the government, politics were scathing and extremely divisive. Newspapers were noticeably partisan and often published critical letters and promoted the mudslinging. The ease at which the written word was spread and the popularity of reading enabled novel ideas to take hold rather quickly and rumours to spread just as well; otherwise the American spirit would not have been successfully roused against its British jailer.

**Who do you think were the most influential writers and thinkers in your time?**
There were many great intellectuals who influenced the revolutionary period. My close friend __Benjamin Franklin__, was a highly popular individual who reached the hearts of the people through //Poor Richard's Almanack// that lent the populace pithy phrases such as "A penny saved is a penny earned" and "A small leak will sink a great ship". I was fortunate to make his acquaintance in London and he was also the individual who, upon a letter of recommendation, prompted me to move to America. Benjamin was a very peculiar individual and invested himself in many areas, but was nonetheless well respected. An inventor, writer, and politician, he wrote scientific papers of his investigations as well as essays of the distinct values and interests of America from Britain, with an overarching message of creating unity within the American colonies. Benjamin devised the Albany Plan of Union which proposed a method of coalescence that, though rejected, became the seeds from which the Articles of Confederation were grown. His simple and witty style of writing allowed many Americans to understand and remember his work and is characteristic of the effort to involve the common man in the machinations of state, for a revolution can only be accomplished with the support of the people. [For a comprehensive overview on Benjamin Franklin, visit [|CSUTAN's Perspective in American Literature]]

Among other most respectable gentleman are __Thomas Jefferson__, who created the decisive Declaration of Independence from which the true American revolution against Britain would begin. Jefferson was a true Republican in that he strongly advocated putting power in the hands of the people. This put him at odds with former friend John Adams, who was a moderate Federalist and believed in a strong central government. Both held presidential office in this time period, though there existed an unbreachable rift throughout their political careers. In their later years they made amends through a series of correspondences named //The Adams-Jefferson Letters//.



__Alexander Hamilton__ was a tyant but nonetheless an incredible intelligent man whose economic plans strengthend our weak nation and enabled it to survive through those infant years. His creation of the Bank of the United States and a standing army proved neccessary, and we owe much of the easly success of our nation to his manipulations. However, I must note that although Franklin and Jefferson were well-respected public figures, Hamilton was generally disliked. Part of this may stem have stemmed from his inability to explain his thoughts such that one may understand his ideas. Regardless of the genius of his writing, the revolutionary period was a time where the common man could not be excluded. To this style Hamilton did not adhere, and his reputation and the influence of his proposals so suffered.

===What were the most significant events in your time period?=== The pivotal event during my lifetime was the American Revolution. The factors leading up to this war were many. One being the Proclamation of 1763, which stripped veterans of the French and Indian War of their rewarded land and gave men who had fought bravely for their country nothing but a bitter heart in which enmity was beginning to grow.

The many attempts by the British to monopolize the American economy through acts such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and Tea Act of 1773 showed no respect for colonists' rights and were heavily protested by the colonies. I arrived in the colonies in 1774, and it was during that year Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in order to force supplication of the colonies to the British. There was rebellion throughout the colonies and as altercations between the British and Americans escalated into violence, separation from Britain became the subject of many discussions. After the war was won, conflicts arose regarding the best way to complete the task of creating a Republican nation. Writing that once called for a unity between Americans gave way to arguments between opposing parties about liberty versus government, leading to documents such as the Federalist Papers written by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton in 1787 that proposed a centralized government. When I returned to London in 1787, America's social and political order had yet to stabilize.

[For more information on events during the Revolution, visit [|Era of the American Revolution] [|The American Revolution]]

What was the influence of these events on the literary climate?
A growing interest in the material potential of the colonies and their subsequent exploitation by the British led Americans to pay careful attention to the laws and acts passed by Parliament in order to protect their rights. The democratic form of government favored by the people led to a new literary style whose goal was public understanding. The American Revolution developed great orators who had the ability to stir and excite their audience and to arouse the public to action, such as Patrick Henry whose Treason Speech in 1765 related the imposition of taxes to a challenge to liberty. The broken relationship with England led to the movement away from any form of centralized power, but this led to controversy over creating a stable nation without limiting the freedom of its people. The general weakness of Congress allowed many writers, both radical and reactionary, to criticize the government through letters and speeches, which affected the development of political parties after the Revolution.

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Why did you decide to support the American Revolution?
In my youth I had no love for school or the profession of my father, whose vocation was creating corsets. The nature of the world, however, is such that man must work to survive, therefore I became an excise officer for the English government. The job was most miserable; everyday there were threats upon my body, and we were not paid nearly enough for our efforts. I wrote in 1772 //The Case of the Officers of Excise// in which I documented most comprehensively the conditions we, the tax officers, were required to work and argued for an increase in wages such that a common man may live. Because of the sin of Greed to which England had succumbed she lent no mercy nor sympathy for her people who suffered so grievously, and in response to my plea I was informed that my post had been terminated. Harboring no love for England and her iron monarchy, I saw the American people as righteous and true in their endeavor to separate themselves from a manipulative state and I dedicated my efforts to their cause.

[For more information on Thomas Paine's background, visit[| The Biography of Thomas Paine]]

How did you influence the values and beliefs of the revolutionary period?
In 1776 on the eve of the American revolution, many were undecided as to their answer to the question of independence. The pamphlet //Common Sense// I published anonymously because of the treasonous nature of its contents, and in its forty-eight page entirety I attempted in a natural style understood by all man to create a compelling argument for independence of the American colonies from Britain; government is created out of necessity as a result of the nature of man. Its aim is to restrain greed and regulate society; however the balance between government and society must be such that the government represents the people. England has failed in this and her tyranny gives nothing to the people she is obligated to serve.

//Common Sense// was immediately successful, and the same year the Declaration of Independence was written which drew from my pamphlet suggestions of the establishment of American independence and remarks on the English Constitution. I wrote a series of documents throughout the course of the war in response to the crises the Americans faced in order to boost American morale, the papers thus labeled //The Crisis Papers//. These documents had the greatest influence at the Valley Forge, when General George Washington read to his troops the first essay which stated "Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it" and inspired the soldiers to stay to fight the British.

[For more information regarding the works of Thomas Paine, visit [|Thomas Paine's Common Sense] [|Writings of Thomas Paine]]

[|Thomas Paine's blog]