Rationalism: Thomas Paine

A change was happening at this time amongst the new settlers in America. Change happens often in time, and in this particular case, it was a change for the better. This change was seen in the ideas and actions of the colonists, and it became known as the Rationalism Period. People began to stand up for what they believed in, make their own decisions, and fight their own wars (literally). This time period was also referred to as Enlightenment or The Age of Reason because people were thinking logically instead of religiously. Instead of focusing on an after life, people used the power of reason and science to further self-fulfillment and human life. In class, we often refer to the idea of God being the ‘clock maker’. He set up the pieces of the world, but then stood back to allow the people to decide for themselves, while he watched. The Rationalism Period was very much a time where reason was valued over faith. One man who seemed to lead the way for the Rationalism Period along with many other was Thomas Paine. He even states, “My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light” (Paine 136). Although he was taken out of grammar school at a young age to work as an apprentice, Paine worked hard to build an education for himself. He felt very strongly towards the Revolutionary War and made many speeches and held rallies against Britain. Paine wrote The Crisis, No. 1 to encourage settlers that the Revolutionary War was very much necessary. He often compared to the British government as the mother, and that she was suffocating her kids, which were the colonists The Crisis, No. 1 was also used to rally up the colonists to want to fight for their freedom against the British. He says, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph” (Paine 134). In fact, The Crisis, No. 1 was read the men in the military I order to, for a lack of better words, pump them up to fight. Like I mentioned before, Thomas Paine was a large part of the Rationalism Period, but even he looked to God in times of need. He admits, “I have as little superstition in me as any man living; but my secret opinion has ever been and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupported to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent” (Paine 135). He even encourages the colonists the praise God and to fight in his honor. “Say not that the thousands are gone--turn your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but show your faith by your works, that God may bless you” (Paine 136).

Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis, No.1." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 134-136. Print.