Common Sense: A Reflection

From reading this excerpt of Common Sense, the pamphlet by journalist Thomas Paine that helped to shape the Revolution, I have learned many things about life during that era. Primarily, that American existance was an ambivalent one, as Americans' hearts were constantly being tugged in opposing ways toward either independance, or the decision to stay a state of Great Britain's. It was also a passionate one, in my opinion, because of the aforementioned mental battle that faced the peoples of the New World. This inner war very quickly turned into countless physical battles that in the end finally won us our independance and helped to shape the nation as it remains today.

Honestly, what surprised me most about what I read was just simply the eloquence in which the document itself was forged. It was not only a bold statement of facts urging Americans to open their eyes and realise that we would be better off as an independant country, but also a magnificent piece of poetry that was clearly written with a lot of hope in mind for the American people and the future that Thomas Paine envisioned for us and urged us to fight towards.