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Thomas Paine's Argument Against Mercantilism

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Thomas Paine did not believe that mercantilism was a fair economic system. Paine went against the mercantilist notion that America could only function with a connection to Great Britain. In Common Sense (CS), Paine wrote that he wanted free trade with all nations, not just Great Britain. The Trade and Navigation Acts restricted free trade with all nations which went against Paine’s beliefs. Paine was anti-mercantilist, and did not believe government should have a strong role in regards to trade. Paine did believe that the colonies should have representation in the Parliament. Paine wrote the CS which influenced many people to fight for their independence and fight for their representation in the Parliament. In CS, Paine fights for American independence. In his argument, Paine began by comparing both government and society and gave his opinions and views on both. According to Paine, society is everything constructive that people join together to accomplish. Whereas government, is an institution whose only purpose is to protect us from our own misconduct. Paine believed that the people would be much happier if they were responsible for their own creation laws and rules. Paine argued that this type of system of representation would benefit the American colonists. He wanted a …show more content…
Paine believed that the colonies had every right to fight against a government that imposed taxes on them but did not give them the right of representation in the Parliament. Paine knew he had to do something to change this. On January 10, 1776 Paine wrote all his ideas on American independence in his pamphlet CS. Many people agreed with his ideas and his whole perspective of how the government should be and how they should act. CS had influenced many Patriots and revolutionaries to go to war with Britain and fight for their freedom and independence. Paine wanted to create a change and he surely

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