Treason in the Eye of the Beholder

1185 Words3 Pages

There is a fine line between treason and revolution, however when the two come up it very likely that the individual that is being of accused of either can go from one or the other in the blink of an eye. During the late 1700’s America was going through some of the most difficult times of its history. The struggle with Britain was becoming harder and those within the colonies were unsure what direction they wanted to take the colonies. Thomas Paine however knew exactly what direction he felt the colonies should go and that was to break away from Britain and become an independent nation from Britain all together. There was a crisis in America with no set rules or regulations to guide those that were living within its borders and Paine realized something had to be accomplished in order to keep the situation from getting out of control. Deifying the King of England was consider treason, but arming the American colonist with the knowledge that independence was the only way in which true freedom would ultimately could be achieved was a chance Paine was willing to take. Freedom and independence would come at a price, but the outcome would be the start of a new nation. Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England to a Quaker family in 1737. It is very possible his own family understood even endured some of the same pressures and persecutions, which had caused many colonists to head to the America’s many years before. Paine was an apprentice in his father’s staymaker shop there in England. Paine continues in this business for a few years, but eventually works his way into a job as a person who handled taxes for the British government. Paine did not move to America until 1774, so during this time he would have read and heard ... ... middle of paper ... ...here may have been a secondary plan all along for Jefferson to have someone else draft it so that if there were complete overthrow or something disastrous someone else would take the fall. One cannot be certain of this, but it should be considered due in part to the language used throughout the documents, which lends itself to the writing style of Paine. History of course does not elaborate on this and there is no full proof evidence of this. Nevertheless, it is well understood that in the eyes of each and every American today that the forty-six pages penned by Thomas Paine were not words of treason nor rebellion, but words of independence and freedom. Works Cited Michael Mereanze, Laboratories of Virtue: Punishment, Revolution, and Authority 46 Pages, Scott Liell Common Sense, Thomas Paine Jack Fruchtman, Jr Thomas Pain: Apostle of Freedom

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