Three Treatises for the New Revolution

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense argued openly for American colonies’ independence from Great Britain, an aristocracy. Born in England in 1737, Paine came to the colonies in 1774 to participate in the American Revolution. Common Sense “appeared in January 1776, after the Revolution had started. It was passed around and often read aloud in taverns, contributing significantly to spreading the idea of republicanism, building enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army. Paine provided a new and convincing argument for independence by advocating a complete break with history. Common Sense is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an immediate choice. It offers a solution for Americans disgusted and alarmed at the threat of tyranny.” 

Later in 1776, Paine wrote and published The Crisis, another pamphlet that was read widely, including to an audience of colonial soldiers at General George Washington’s request. “These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman,” he wrote. “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”

Paine ignited popular opinion in support of the Revolution and a war against the Crown that lasted about eight years (1775-1783). He was accompanied by others of equal voice, such as Sam Adams, who said, “Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.” Sam Adams became another popular propagandist. He emerged as an important figure in Boston soon after Great Britain passed a series of three tax acts to pay for its Seven Years’ War (1756-1763). The Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 caused Adams and others to seek reform that was not forthcoming. His Right of Revolution, a third pamphlet, was published in 1769. 

From Threes, Chapter Seven, “Threes in Government and Politics”