Similarities Between Common Sense And Declaration Of Independence

Common Sense & Declaration of Independence
Amanda Stark
Post University

Common Sense & Declaration of Independence
In January 1776, an Englishman by the name of Thomas Paine, wrote and circulated a pamphlet titled “Common Sense”. Common Sense was the forerunner to our Declaration of Independence. Within this paper, to the best of my understanding, I will mention many facts to show the similarities, differences and effectiveness in both documents.
Paine’s “Common Sense”, in my opinion had the greatest influence on Revolutionary America. The reason I say this is because, as mentioned above, “Common Sense” was the forerunner to the Declaration of Independence; without “Common Sense” being written, who knows how our Declaration of Independence

would be written today. Gary Berton even says “Paine laid out the system of democratic republicanism for an oppressed world.” (Berton, n.d.,para 1)
The main reason for Paine to write this lengthy pamphlet was get people engaged and strive for their own independence. Paine intended to solely offer simple facts, plain arguments, and just utter common sense. Richard Rosenfield even states:
Tom Paine urges freedom from Britain to secure American democracy, to achieve freedom and equality for every citizen. Freedom from Britain (independence), freedom of trade or property (free enterprise), the freedom of English subjects ("ordered liberty"), and the freedom of democracy (equality) are different "freedoms," and Common Sense urges democratic freedom as the basis for an American Revolution. (p. 268-269)
In my opinion, there are quite a few similarities between Paine’s “Common Sense” and Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, but I will mention only a few of them.

The first, and most obvious similarity that I found was that both documents were written during the same year of 1776, but written only six months apart. Secondly, both were written to discuss and initiate the breaking away and ultimately gaining independence from Great Britain. Another similarity that is very obvious throughout both pieces of work is the great offenses that were being committed against American colonies. Some of the major offenses that were being committed by Great Britain are, over taxation and purposely crushing the colonist’s interest in partaking in Parliament. If I’m correct, I believe that both documents form some sort of assumed contract stating that the government is not endowed with power, that actually if they are not supporting the citizens, that they can and will be replaced. The last comparison that I will mention, is that within both documents, it is stated that they made a great effort to reconcile their issues with the King, but still felt that their needs as citizens were still not being met by English

monarchy.
To mention the differences between the two documents, I cannot say that I found as much of a difference as I did with similarities.

The biggest and most obvious difference that I feel anyone that reads it could quickly find is the length of both documents. “Common Sense” is by far longer than the Declaration of Independence. It is said that “Common Sense” was 48 pages long, whereas the Declaration of Independence was merely just a single page long. With Paine’s pamphlet being so lengthy, I feel that he was able to touch on many more issues that the Declaration of Independence was able to. Jefferson’s document is a very short, and merely touches a few subjects about how the American colonies have the right to be able to break away from Great Britain. Both documents are supposed to portray the same message, but with Paine’s being as long as it is, he goes into far more detail on the issues, therefore making it more informative. For an example, “Common Sense” goes on to mention the reasons why the British system failed to deliver adequate checks on the king. Although the Declaration of Independence does point out the way the King was abusing his powers, “Common Sense” goes on to describe in great detail what the King is in fact doing wrong, and Paine even explains why it is such a great time to rebel and fight for their

independence.
To answer the question, are these documents still effective, I would have to honestly say yes, for the most part they are effective. Although we aren’t trying to declare our independence from Great Britain, as we were back in 1776, I feel as if each and every day there is a fight for independence in some sense. The Declaration of Independence seems to be what started the idea of what we know now as our Bill of Rights. The first 10 amendments of the Constitution are our Bill of rights granting us certain rights, such as freedom of speech, press and religion, to the right to keep and bear arms; the freedom of assembly; the freedom to petition; prohibits unreasonable search and seizure; cruel and unusual punishment; and compelled self-incrimination.
In conclusion, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” is a lengthier version of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. Paine’s incredibly long and confusing pamphlet offers more information and is able to touch on more points on why the colonists should and needed to break away from Great Britain. Paine seemed to be more influential on the revolutionary America. As you can see there are far more similarities between the two documents than there are differences, especially because they were both written for the same purpose and to gain the same outcome. If both documents weren’t written, I don’t even want to know how the United States would be today. I wonder if we would even have the rights that we citizens have today.

References
Berton, G. (n.d.). Thomas Paine and the Declaration of Independence. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://thomaspaine.org/aboutpaine/thomas-paine-and-the-declaration-of-independence.html
Richard Rosenfeld, American Aurora, New York: St. Martins Press, 1997, pg 268-269