18th Century Writings

Paine's Common Sense

Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet that was easy to understand and made a great argument for the colonies to become independent of Britain. It helped many people who were undecided to choose to support the Revolutionary War and help America gain its independence.

Read one of Thomas Paine's quotes.

Patrick Henry was a delegate in the Second Virginia Convention who supported starting a militia because he knew the colonists would have to fight against the British. Patrick gave a very passionate speech. Click the arrow to read his famous quote from this speech.

This is Patrick Henry's most famous quote.

Benjamin Franklin owned and ran a newspaper in which he drew a cartoon that made a political statement. His cartoon was the first of its kind in America. Click on the arrow to see the cartoon.

This is Benjamin Franklin's famous warning to Britain. N.E. stands for "New England" (a group of colonies), and the rest are abbreviations for the other colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

During Benjamin Franklin's time, it was believed that a cut snake could come back to life if put back together before dark. His cartoon was telling the colonists to join the Union. In other words, join together or they wouldn't survive.