These freedoms we hold so dear came from a long English tradition. However, Americans shaped this history into their own philosophy by creating a recipe with humanitarian and Enlightenment ideas as the essential ingredients. The new mix called for a revolution. As leaders, Paine, Jefferson, and Crevecoeur shaped the age of liberty and revolution for the American people. Their literary works and motivating speeches illustrate their feelings on equality and freedom that would shape their future and our past. According to their convictions, self-determination and freedom of belief would lead to human equality and a productive society. .

             According to Paine, Jefferson, and Crevecoeur, self-determination guarantees the right for all people to have a voice in their government. This voice theoretically eliminates infractions of freedom that restrict the individual's ability to contribute economically and socially to their country. Thus, self-determination benefits both the citizen and the nation. In Common Sense, Paine envisions the manifestation of this self-determination in a representative democracy while he encourages Americans to form a government that speaks with an American, not a British, accent. Paine asserts the right of a people "to be managed by a select number chosen from the whole body , who are supposed to have the same concerns at stake which those have who appointed them, and who will act in the same manner as the whole body would were they present" (Paine 503). Crevecoeur agrees that a government should be overthrown when it fails to represent the people. He advises Americans to arm themselves against British oppressions and form a self-determined government. In Letters from an American Farmer, Crevecoeur exclaims, "Farewell to Britain, to that renowned country? Alas, she herself, that once indulgent parent, forces me to take up my arms against her" (Crevecoeur 464).