How Did Thomas Paine Contribute To The American Revolution

Even at a time of rebirth and learning, the Renaissance was a breeding ground for upstart artists and authors to be introduced to the iron fist of the Church. Whether it be the Catholic Church or the Protestant Church, books will always be expurgated to fit the criteria of the faith. England endured many centuries under papal authority, until King Henry VIII was denied an annulment from Catherine of Aragon, a devout Catholic. When the king did not elicit a result he was satisfied with, he sought a solution through a schism with the Catholic Church, and thus began the Church of England where the reigning monarch decreed what is sinful and what is not. King Henry VIII attained his annulment, and set forth a series of events that were not

Former British citizens of the newly formed republic did not care for the overbearing tendencies of a sovereign that lived a thousand miles away, and so fought valiantly for their liberty. Many authors found inspiration in the American Revolution, writing their own opinions of the fixed monarchy prevalent in European society. Thomas Paine endured many trials as a result of his writings, not only through expurgation of his works, but also threats to his life. “The two parts of Rights of Man were quickly combined in cheap editions (at Paine's insistence) and sold in unprecedented numbers. Paine's advocacy of natural rights, his attacks on mixed government, his outspoken republicanism, and his extensive proposals for schemes of social welfare set him apart from the more common opposition rhetoric that emphasized the need to protect the integrity of the mixed constitution to secure English liberties.” (Philp) Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man earned him time in prison for belittling the British government and exalting the recently autonomic United States. Even with the French revolutionaries agreeing with his rhetoric, he was still captured and nearly strapped to a guillotine under Robespierre’s tyrannical authority but was saved from his execution by James Monroe. Paine did not survive prison with a healthy

The first few decades in the wake of its creation, the United States was a disaster of powerful men who did not not know how much it takes to properly govern a country. Many of the common folk who did not have a voice in their government let themselves be heard through newspapers and brochures, criticizing the union for its incompetence regarding the country’s land, money, and now dissolved Continental Army. To neutralize the resentful citizens, laws were passed not to settle the disputes, but to relinquish the citizens’ rights to free speech and press by enacting the Alien and Sedition Acts. “The U.S. Sedition Act first outlawed conspiracies ‘to oppose any measure or measures of the government.’ Going further, the act made it illegal for anyone to express ‘any false, scandalous and malicious writing’ against Congress or the president.” (“The Alien and Sedition Acts: Defining American Freedom”) Many journalists were tried and arrested for writing slander and libel about the government and President John Adams. The minor political party of the Republicans argued that the Sedition Acts were unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, and thus should be repealed. Federalists disagreed and stated that by writing it papers and documents, it gives the government power to punish the offenders for vengeful defamation. The Alien acts did