The Crisis No. 1- Reflection Blog

I think that Thomas Paine writes from a more Rationalist style in The Crisis No. 1 because I think it was much more logical than the religious style used by the Puritans. Rationalist writers seem to have a more logical way of thinking and it seems that over time people stopped using religion as an excuse for everything and started to actually think about why certain things happened. Before this Rationalism period, anything that happened that was unusual it was just assumed to be work of the devil, but in this period people began to look at things a little bit differently. They began to try and understand why things were happening instead of just assuming it to be somewhat religion based. In The Crisis No. 1, Thomas Paine represents the Rationalism period very well in the way he wrote his story. Also, we are shown how the shift in the way people thought in this passage

However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves (Paine 135).

This passage shows us how people stopped blaming God for everything and started to be more realistic about things. This passage shows us a major difference between this story and stories we have previously read because in all of the previous stories we have read it always seems that people blame God and now in this one he says that there is no one to blame but themselves. I think this passage from The Crisis No. 1 is a very good representative for the Rationalism time period. From reading this story, we learn that Thomas Paine does not want a war, but he does seek independence from Britain. In this passage we are shown how he feels about starting a war

Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me and those who are in it, and to 'bind me in all cases whatsoever' to his absolute will am I to suffer it? (Paine 136).

In this passage we learn the thoughts of Thomas Paine in regards to starting a war with Britain. We see that he does not want to start a war, but he does want independence from Britain and if that means starting a war than so be it. I think that Thomas Paine wrote this to everyone, both those who are for and against the war, in an attempt to get people to see things from his point of view. I think that he would probably want to get more people to agree with him and to be on his side, so I do not think there was a certain group of people this was written for. Through The Crisis No. 1, we learn a lot about the way Rationalists write and we also got to see a few major differences between the Rationalists and the Puritans. In addition to these things, we also got to see how Thomas Paine tried to persuade people to be on his side through this story.

Bibliography

Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis No. 1." Glencoe Literature. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Glencoe, 2010. 134-36. Print.