A Crossroads Resource
Unit IV: What was the American Revolution? 1760-1836
Question/Problem 2: Was the American Revolution a revolution?
American Revolution:
Reading D: American Traders
Thomas Paine's pamphlet _Common Sense_ (1776) was widely read throughout
the colonies. The work inspired colonists to join the cause for
independence. The following excerpts show Paine's economic reasons for
supporting independence. Read the following and answer the question that
follows.
I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hath fourished
under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is
necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same
effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than thi s kind of argument. We
may as well assert that because a child has thriven upon milk, that it is
never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to
become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this is admitting more
than is true; for I answer roundly, that America would have flourished as
much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of
her. The commerce by which she hath enriched herself are the necessaries
of life, and will always have a market while eati ng is the custom of
Europe....
I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a
single advantage that this continent can reap, by being connected with
Great Britain. I repeat the challenge, not a single advantage is derived.
Our corn will fetch its price in any market i n Europe, and our imported
goods must be paid for, buy them where we will.
Diane Ravitch, ed., The American Reader: Words That Moved A Nation, (New
York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1990), pp. 25-27.
Question: What changes did Thomas Paine (and American traders) hope to
achieve during the American Revolution?
Back To Question #2