Essay #2 Final Draft

American Patriot

It was time we let go of our mother country and formed our own country. As a Patriot from Georgia, I say getting away from those overpowering British men and forming our own country was the right direction to go in! It was not logical for us to be associated with the British any longer! The charter of Georgia in 1732, by saying “…do by these presents, make, erect and create one independent and separate province… And that all and every person or persons, who shall at any time hereafter inhabit or reside within our said province, shall be, and are hereby declared to be free.” (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ga01.asp) When Georgia became a colony in 1732 it showed that we were ready for independence. Our army is more than ready to fight on our own. Especially with help from the French, we are unstoppable. Becoming our own country was the only logical way to handle our governmental problems. Georgia and the other colonies will be able to support themselves with crops that can give them money. Our rights are important and honored by our government.

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense speech showed the most important part of us becoming our own country.
He said "[I]t is not in the power of Britain to do this continent justice: The business of it will soon be too weighty, and intricate, to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience, by a power, so distant from us, and so very ignorant of us; for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot govern us. To be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an answer, which when obtained requires five or six more to explain it in, will in a few years be looked upon as folly and childishness."

(http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/singlehtml.htm) Logic tells us that it is not reasonable for us to be governed from across miles and miles of ocean. It takes too long to get information to travel the long distances. A law could be set in place and by the time we even got word of it, the law could be no longer in effect! It is simply not logical to govern across waters.

Undoubtedly, our army is much stronger than we thought. “Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats.” (http://www.ushistory.org/Paine/crisis/c-01.htm) When the French come to be on our side, it shows how they do not mind helping protect our country. Because the French will be showing our friendship by helping us out in times of need, other countries will want to be on our side as well. Because of this, we don’t need the British.
In times of war, Americans will be able to help each other and their selves. We are capable of growing our own crops “including cultivating cotton for household use and for manufacture into cloth.” (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2210413) We are an independent country and we don’t need the British to support us. She is the mother and we are the children. After awhile, the child grows up and leaves the mother on his own adventure. We did just that and it was about time.

As our colonies grew, I began to see that it is possible for us to be independent. Our leaders are promising to treat us well. In Georgia’s constitution, it says “…and use my utmost endeavors to protect the people thereof in the secure enjoyment of all their rights, franchises and privileges.” (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ga02.asp) This quote shows me think that protecting and honoring our rights is important to the government. Our “rights, franchises and privileges” are being protected and we gladly took advantage of that to get rid of the pesky British.

Leaving Britain was the smartest thing we could have done in our situation. Thomas Paine proved that governing across waters does not work well and would have soon become impossible. Our friendliness with the French has shown that we can win wars, especially with the help of our allies. Our cotton growth is just a small example of how we can support ourselves, even in times of need. Government is in charge of holding our rights and privileges high, and they have proved that they do. We are better off on our own and we do not need the British to help us grown and form into a better country than we started with.



Works Cited
1. Charter of Georgia, 1732
URL: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ga01.asp

2. Common Sense by Thomas Paine, 1776
URL: http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/singlehtml.htm

3. The Crisis by Thomas Paine, 1776
URL: http://www.ushistory.org/Paine/crisis/c-01.htm

4. Creating a Cotton South in Georgian and South Carolina, 1760-1815 by Joyce. E. Chaplin
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2210413

5. Constitution of Georgia; February 5, 1777
URL: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ga02.asp