Thomas Paine:Warrior In The American Independence War

The victory of the American Revolutionary War was epoch-making in American history, which couldn’t be launched and successful without the participation and leadership of the distinguished generals such as George Washington as well as the elites like Thomas Jefferson who drafted the Declaration of Independence during the Revolution. Most of them had been given due recognition in American history. However, the contributions of Thomas Paine also deserved to be remembered. During the days before the American Independence War, Revolutionary camp and conservatives were engaged in fierce debate on the future of colonial society, wavering between “war” and “peace”, since the colonial society had been shrouded in uncertain atmosphere and no one dared to lift the banner of independence boldly. Bravely advocating a complete break from the United Kingdom and independence of North American colonies, Paine immediately participated in the colonial struggle for independence and became a brave standard-bearer and pioneering warrior in the cause of the North American independence right after he arrived in North American continent. What’s more, Paine personally took an active part in the American Independence War as a soldier, and he also greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers in the most difficult times of war. Most of the founding fathers of America were the strategists with excellent organizational leadership and theorists who put forward the theories and blueprint for the establishment of a new country, whose contributions had been deservedly recognized and remembered by the public. But Paine’s contributions at the beginning and in the process of the Revolution were ignored and forgotten to some extent. Actually, Thomas Paine was a warrior in the American Independence Revolution, which made him equally if not more outstanding than other elites, so Paine’s contributions to the American Independence War deserve to be duly recognized and remembered.Therefore, this thesis argues that Thomas Paine is an indomitable warrior in the American Independence War since his liberating thoughts and ideas are directlyconducive to the War and his personal participation as a soldier in the American Independence War not only demonstrates his unremitting efforts in fighting for the freedom of the people of North American colonies but also tremendously boosts the moral of the revolutionary army.Apart from the introduction and the conclusion, this paper is divided into three chapters. The first chapter introduces the theories of Thomas Paine that were conducive to the American Independence War. The second chapter analyzes the significant effect of Paine’s revolutionary theories in the Revolution. The third chapter introduces Paine’s personal participation in the American Independence War and its significance.