Similarities Between Declaration Of Independence And Common Sense

Having looked at the content of both the Declaration of Independence and Paine’s “Common Sense”, the following similarities can be made. First, it is without doubt that these documents were both written with the same purpose such being to evoke in the colony the attitude to go towards independence and in doing so, both outlined clear reasons the severing of ties with the mother land was necessary. Second, in both cases, the equality of man was highlighted as stable grounds for the cause. A third similarity is the fact that both were written in the same time frame being only months apart. Nevertheless, like any two things, there are also some differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Paine’s “Common Sense”. In this regard, the first thing to note is that the two

Many historians and documenters see the Declaration of Independence as the most important document in American History. For Aaron Sorkin, it was the best piece of writing he has ever seen; Richard Slotkin from Wesleyan University saw it as a revolutionary document for a revolutionary time and, Tom Brokaw from NBC News believed no one can read the words of the declaration and not be stirred. They went on to call the declaration the forming of a philosophical basis for any civil democracy and lauded those responsible as prodigies who were capable of foreseeing a new period for human kind (www.history.com). Columbia electronic encyclopaedia stated that;

“The Declaration of Independence is the most important of all American historical documents. It is essentially a partisan document, a justification of the American Revolution presented to the world; but its unique combination of general principles and an abstract theory of government with a detailed enumeration of specific grievances and injustices have given it enduring power as one of the great political documents of the West.”