Common Sense. By Thomas Paine. Edited with an Introduction by Isaac Kramnic. (New York: Penguin Books, 1986).
	Recently, I acquired a copy of Thomas Paine’s most recent patriotic pamphlet, entitled Common Sense. I was immediately interested in what Paine had to say in his new work, after such powerful previous works, such as The Crisis series. I was nothing less than astonished at how Paine so powerfully conveyed his patriotic message. Paine theorizes a split between England and the colonial states. At the same time as a split is theorized, it would form a union of the colonial states into one country, united into one body on our American principles, no longer under the rule of the British Parliament and its ridiculous taxes and misrepresentation. Paine delivers one of the most compelling arguments I have heard on why there should be a division between the English and the Americans.
	The British Parliament has long been a bane to the colonists in the New World, with the passage of all their "acts" to tax us simply because we are more productive. Paine makes his contempt for the current system of government quite clear early on. "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for even we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamities is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer." (65) Paine clearly believes that the English government falls into the "intolerable" category of governments. Although a system of government is a required entity in almost any society, there are much better ways to govern a people besides the British monarchal system. Paine discusses how the Parliament is set up as a representation of the people, but what good is representation in a monarchy? The monarch still has absolute power, even though a system is set up to make it appear as though the people have a say. This lack of true representation instills a lack of trust towards the king in the British subjects. These factors create doubt in one’s mind about the strength of the British government. Paine questions the government saying:
"How came the king by a power which the people are afraid to trust, ...
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...umstances, a separation between England and America is crucial to the survival of America. The only factor that must be decided is when such a separation should occur. If we look to Paine’s advice, he states: "As all men allow the measure, and vary only in their opinion of the time, let us, in order to remove mistakes, take a general survey of things and endeavour if possible, to find out the very time. But we need not go far, the inquiry ceases at once, for the time hath found us." (100) Paine calls for an immediate separation from the British. As an independent nation, America could be free of England’s tyrannical government, and its absurd monarchy. No longer would we have to suffer the injustices of the British Parliament and their ridiculous taxes. We already have to protect ourselves as a nation, without British support, unless of course the English have some interest in the matter. Why not defend our selves as an independent nation? There is no possibility of reparations at this point in time. However, this is the key time to make our stand. If we ever have a desire to become free men, men of our own will and control, we must act now, and declare our independence.
The distance between the colonies and England is what led to most of the political strife in 1776. Paine argued that having a government so far away trying to rule from was deplorable. He urged colonists to be outraged, as he was, that when any issue would arise it would take 3-4 months for the English government to find a solution and start working on fixing the problem. Paine called for independence to create a government that would be run by the people and for the people, not by one single tyrannical leader. He rallied for a government that was in America and that had representatives from every one of the colonies so that all the colonist’s voices would be heard. Paine urged the colonists to see “Our prayers have been rejected with disdain; and hath tended to convince us that nothing flatters vanity or confirms obstinacy in Kings more than repeated petitioning”, and it was now time to fight for independence to create a government that would listen (Paine, Common Sense,
Paine dwells on the differences between government and society. He stresses greatly on the fact that a government should be able to protect its society. Giving life and liberty to its people. He also points out that, Britain is the main cause of enemy to the Americas. Expressing disagreement with the British in American, he criticized the British government. He believes that the monarchy has too much power and their system is unreasonable. Paine complicates matters further when he writes, that the Americans are not British anymore. It is not British in a sense that it is so diverse, with different types of Europeans. In Paine’s views Britain is not a mother country, since it imposes harsh treatments and is in a war too often. The idea of best interest was important to Paine. In his views, Britain sees the Americas as profitable institutions to control and gains riches from, as opposed to the development and freedom of the nations. Independence from Britain was one of many ideas of this pamphlet. “Common Sense”, essentially pointed out the reasons why the colonies should leave the British and form a new government. His views on government inspired “Limited government” and “natural laws”, which gives citizens more control on how they shape their local environment and
Thomas Paine, in the pamphlet Common Sense, succeeded in convincing the indifferent portion of colonial society that America should secede from Britain through moral and religious, economic, and governmental arguments. Using strong evidence, targeting each separate group of people, Thomas Paine served not only to sway the public 's opinion on American independence, but also to mobilize the effort to achieve this ultimatum.
Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Shi, David and Mayer, Holly. For the Record. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013.
Thomas Paine’s objective in “The American Crisis” is to persuade Americans to untie and take action in ridding America of British control; his writings effectiveness is due primarily to his employment of religious diction, vivid imagery, a sentimental anecdote, an urgent tone, as well as his consistent exploitation of his audiences’ emotions.
Paine had not entertained the idea of independence from Britain when he arrived in America. He thought it was “a kind of treason” to break away from Britain. It was not until the Battle of Lexington in 1775 that he considered “the compact between Britain and America to be broken” (Claeys). This idea of a broken compact allowed Thomas Paine to write a political pamphlet.
Thomas Paine’s Common sense from III Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs is about the conflict between New England and America. The Americans didn’t like the way the British treated them so Paine’s stated his issue why America has to be an independent country to save its government and the reasons to wanted having freedom with Britain. Pain gave reason in the text what would happen to the American government if they stayed dependent from England. Paine’s Common Sense spoke out his beliefs about the hardships in America and how he felt America. A quote by Thomas Paine, “The authority of Great Britain over this continent is a form of government which sooner or later must have an end: and a serious mind can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and positive conviction that what he calls ‘the present constitution’ is merely
Thomas Paine expresses his feelings toward the English constitution and its flaws specifically the crown. According to Paine, "because the corrupt influence of the Crown, by having all the places in its disposal, hath so effectually swallowed up the power, and eaten out the virtue of the House of Commons" shows that with power comes corruption and in this case is the crown ruler of Britain. Paine gives an example of an up and coming colony which will develop a government which cannot be overturned which he said, " depends the STRENGTH OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE HAPPINESS OF THE GOVERNED." This shows that according to Paine himself, a government is only as strong as the people who support it, and with that equality. While in the single ruler government, the people have no voice or say in the law making or bill producing process, instead the crown will be appointing it. Thomas Paine also provide arguments and answers to rebuttals that argue for the English constitution and government. Thomas Paine said, " Some writers have explained the English constitution thus: the King, say they, is one, the people another; the Peers are a house in be...
During the late 17 hundreds the American colonies were split between separating from Great Britain or not. Some colonists felt they did not need to leave the rule of Britain, while others saw potential for the American colonies without Great Britain parliament. In the pamphlet titled Common Sense, Thomas Paine expressed his beliefs to separate from Great Britain in order to achieve greater opportunities for the Americans. He believed that nothing that came out of the monarchies was good, that America was oppressed and to structured to be run by Great Britain.
Throughout Common Sense, Paine advocated for a republic that was built on equality and property. Thomas Paine was a British colonist who believed it was time to truly be independent from Britain, in his writing Common Sense he spoke bluntly and plainly to win over more colonists for freedom. He takes no time to say that his beliefs are logic and reason based. He begins chapter 3 by writing, ‘In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense; and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession.” Paine tells his audience that there is no hidden agenda in what they are about and they can make their decision through their own common sense.
Six months before the Declaration of Independence is written in 1776, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is published, causing a substantial amount of colonists to rebel against the British once and for all. This radical document doesn’t just sell 120,000 in a few months, it changes colonists’ thoughts and outlook regarding the British monarchy, and ultimately pushes the colonies towards independence from Great Britain. His pamphlet starts with a more hypothetical approach about government and religion, then transforms into the detailed problems between Britain and its colonies.
Paine questioned British parliament and monarchy and also shared that “of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of god than all crowned ruffians that ever lived” (Paine, 1776). Colonies where under the rule of one king where liberty and honesty were very unlikely. When Paine wrote Common sense, he gave
Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Common Sense (January 3, 2009): 1. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 27, 2011).
Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Electronic Library of Primary Sources: The Americans. CD-ROM. McDougal Littell. Evanston, IL: 1999.
Paine, T., & Slaughter, T. P. (2001). Common sense and related writings. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.