Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Paine: Two Authors that Changed The Population

The early Colonial American authors wrote in a way that shaped the world as we know it. Their experiences shed a different light on the new world. Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Paine are two authors in specific that informed and changed a plethora of the population. Their writings were different in purpose, audience, and style, yet they both carried a message that influenced the population. Jonathan Edwards was a preacher during the American Colonial period. His most notable piece of literature is “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. " This writing warned the public that they should be ashamed of their sins and turn to God for forgiveness.

In this time in history, people were difficult to persuade with the idea of religion as they began to doubt the concept due to science. Edwards writing was highly persuasive and depicted hell with horrifying imagery. His ideas in his writing influenced many, and eventually, the Great Awakening would take place from this influence. Thomas Paine was an Englishman who emigrated to the colonies in 1774. He was very involved in politics. His pamphlet titled Common Sense gained him the title as the Father of the American Revolution. Common Sense was an instant success as he pushed to break away from English rule. His writing was highly persuasive and fueled the idea to many American colonists that it was time to become independent.

Later, months after the publishing of his pamphlet, the Declaration of Independence would be approved by Congress. These two authors played major roles in the advancement of the New World's ideology. The purpose of each of their writings was to persuade their audience into agreeing with their perspective. Jonathan Edwards purpose was to persuade people into believing in God, to attract more people to the church. His audience consisted of people who lost faith because of scientific theories that contradicted the existence of God. Thomas Paine's purpose was to persuade people into agreeing with the idea of breaking free from the British. His audience was the people of early America. These were known as Patriotists and were people who sought freedom in the New World. The two writers influenced mass amounts of people, but they had different styles. Thomas Paine's writings were highly successful because of his straightforward writing style of the times. Jonathan Edwards has a different style in persuading as he uses a great amount of figurative language using similes, metaphors, distinct imagery and more.