Literature: Tool For The Masses To Grasp And Form Opinions On A Subject :: essays research papers

Literature Tool For The Masses to Grasp and Form Opinions on A SubjectOver the centuries, 1 of the most important tools available to protestinggroups was literature. Some of the most famous protest literature in the worldhas its roots in American history. For example, some peachy American authors ofprotest literature include Thomas Paine, Thomas Nast, John C. Calhoun, andMartin Luther King. Through eloquent, sometimes subtle means, these authorsbecame the spokesmen for their particular protest movements.Thomas Paine was an English-born man who seemed to assert controversy wherever hetraveled. Paines forceful yet eloquent prose made him a hero for the threegreat causes to which he devoted his life the American Revolution, religiousreform, and the natural rights of man. At the age of 37, Paine strove for thefabled shores of America, determined to forget his past. He made theacquaintance of Benjamin Franklin, and settled in Philadelphia. There, Painewas eventually hired into the pr ofession of editor for the daddy Magazine.He published a series of minor essays, but his first important work was anessay written for the Pennsylvania Journal in which Paine openly denouncedslavery. This was Paines first foray into the world of protest literature, andit clearly whet his appetite. Paine soon became fascinated with the ongoinghostility in Anglo-American relations, and, a great deal to the dismay of his publisher,could not seem to think of anything but. Therefore, in late 1775, Paine hadbegun what was to become a 50-page Pamphlet known as Common Sense. In this work,Paine realmd that purchase order in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, isbut a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one for when we suffer,or are exposed to the same miseries by a Government, which we might expect in acountry without Government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that wefurnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the ba dge oflost innocence the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers ofparadise (Fast 6).This very biting and controversial stance is what characterized Paines writing.He went on to dismiss the King as a fool, and stated that natural ability is notnecessarily related to heredity. Paine argued that the colonies existed plainlyfor British profit, and that the colonies must meld quickly if they were everto form a single nation. This latter argument was more than likely influencedby Franklins famous "Join or Die" cartoon. Finally, Paine argued that the onlyway to gain the rights desired by the colonists and help from outside powers was