Thomas Paine: Colonial conspiracy theorist, and rap artist

Thomas Paine: America’s colonial rap artist/conspiracy theorist.

Let’s examine why this is the case:

In Paines’ Common Sense he sends out a colonial version of a blog telling his fellow Americans , who were getting more and more upset with England at this time, that they no longer have any need for a king and that they no longer have any need for England.

The opening paragraph of Common Sense accurately supposes the greatest argument his critics might have and in doing so, disarms everyone.

Here is the opening line to the piece called Common Sense, the piece which became the tipping point to start off the Revolutionary War:

“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not YET sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favour; a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.” www.ushistory.org...

“Common Sense” is the ultimate conspiracy thread. It’s the original, in my humble opinion.

There are many reasons why the pamphlet was so successful, though the opening paragraph itself is an ingenious formation of word and thought which I recognize in the opening paragraphs of some of the best threads from ATS. Critics’ arguments are often presented and then examined right in the beginning in these threads, just like Paine did. It seems to be a great way to get your conspiracy theory across to others.
(You can’t deny at this point that Payne was calling for a revolution, the most conspiratorial thing someone could possibly do.)

And then Paine procedes to explain how the idea that any kind of “reconciliation” with England is beyond ludicrous and completely out of the question.
As he does so he appeals to religious sentiment, political sentiment, and finally social feeling.
What he called for was an echo of the sentiment at the time, I need to point that out for the naysayers of this thread, but this previously unknown writer was telling the most powerful force in the world at the time that they were no longer needed in America, as I mentioned above.

Now here is the poetry which is found in Paine’s Common Sense:

“The reader will pardon this digression, as it does not properly come under the head I first set out with,

And to which I again return by the following position.

Should affairs be patched up with Britain…?

Notice the rhyme. It’s got a definite cadence in that section as well and could easily be put to music.

It’s like the Juice News. It’s like Eminem. Common Sense was so successful due to many factors, but one of them was the fluid cadence of spoken word poetry, or something like rap music lyrics.

His opening paragraph is the perfect format for any writer who has something controversial to say. And his poetic cadence allows his words to dance into the minds of his readers.

He was T Pain

Or

The Jay Z of Manifest Destiny

Way to think outside of the box, everybody. Thanks so much for your open-mindedness. Way cool!