The backgrounds of Jefferson and Paine
Compare the backgrounds of Jefferson and Paine; did Paine have an advantage or disadvantage by not being born in the colonies? Explain.
Thomas Jefferson was born and raised in a high-status family in Virginia. He was privileged to attend a highly prestigious college where he studied mathematics and philosophy. He inherited wealth from his parents, such as the 5000-acre land and many slaves too. Jefferson got elected to the House of Burgesses and later on became the US secretary of state and vice president. He is remembered for writing the laws against primogeniture, he advocated for religious freedom, and he is the author of the Declaration of independence.
On the other hand, Thomas Painewas born and raised in a low-income family in Britain, and his education was cut short when he was only thirteen years and joined his father working on making ropes. Though he continued to educate himself and later on involved himself with the local government activities while advocating for better pay and working conditions for the workers.He, later on, he moved to America, where he became the co-editor of the Pennsylvanian magazine.
The fact that Thomas Paine was born in Britain and not in the American colony gave him an advantage over Thomas Jefferson in the Americas. His writings, such as the “common sense,” which justified the colonial criticism in the fact that one of their own was against it.
Examine the language used in both documents; who is the audience for each writer?
The language that Thomas Paine used in writing the “common sense” is less formal and more simple; his target audience was mostly the ordinary citizens and aiming at igniting them for a revolution. Whereas the language used by Thomas Jefferson in the “declaration of independence” was more formal and detailed, his target audience was the more educated, wealthy elites at the English American government
Why does Jefferson not discuss slavery in the Declaration?
Thomas Jefferson was himself a slave owner, although he wrote about slaves and slavery in the Declaration’s first draft. He wrote it condemn slavery, but it was in the continental congress that the bill was revised, and the other slave-holding delegates from north and south rejected the inclusion of the slavery bill.
What did Paine and Jefferson say about the monarchy in their respective documents?
Both Paine and Jefferson wrote against the rule of the British empire in the US. Paine wrote that it was absurd for “an island to rule a continent,” he was implying that America was bigger than the British and that the British rule was undermining their rights was against the norm. Jefferson also wrote articles objecting to the control of the British empire, and he highlighted the violated human rights and freedoms, thus referring to the colonial rule as some kind of slavery.
Why does Jefferson focus more on the king than parliament?
The king was the overall ruler of all the colonies; the head of colonies was answerable to the king. Due to the oppression and vices happening in the colonies, the parliament has written several to the king but to know plea. And that the king is the one person Jefferson decided to attack him and channel more anger towards him. He also wanted to unite the colonists by creating a movement of displeasure towards the king, thus creating differences between the king and the colonies.