A Common Sense : Thomas Paine

The book Common Sense by Thomas Paine was an American pamphlet written during the American Revolution, which was around the time when America was trying to gain independence from Britain. Paine discusses government, religion, and colonial issues. In the first chapter Paine differentiates between the society and the government. He described the society as being positive and constructive and he described the government being a necessary evil. Meaning the colonist needed to have some form of government to protect themselves from the basic rights. Paine also confronts the British government saying that their government is far too complicated and controversial, and that it would eventually cause problems for the colonists and the hierarchies. He makes up a pretend situation with a group of people on an island who are cut off from the general population. After developing relationships with one another the lawmaking portion becomes unavoidable. Paine says the people will be better off if they make up the rules they have to abide by instead of having set rules the King comes up with himself.

Thomas Paine was born on January 29th, 1737 in Thetford, England. He began working for his father at the age of 13 which is when his formal education ended. He became a

It claims all monarchs are despots, cut off from their people and craving for absolute power.  “Male and female are the distinctions of nature,” Paine wrote, “good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest . . . is worth enquiring into” (Paine 9).  Government is a necessary evil, a “badge of lost innocence,” that tends to get in the way of civilized society.  Modern civilizations should organize themselves into local, self-governing societies with only representational government, suggested Paine, not an all-powerful monarch. “Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived” (Paine 17).

Thomas Paine expresses his feelings toward the English constitution and its flaws specifically the crown. According to Paine, "because the

Paine was not only influenced by what was going on around him, but in ways he was influenced by the writings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. The enlightenment gave Paine some in ways unexplainable but during the years he was in London, “Paine soaked up the ideas of the Enlightenment.” Paine had ideas like Lockean liberalism, classical republicanism, and Leveller radicalism all displayed in his

Paine’s view of human nature and the need for government is that government is needed to keep people, who against their morals, in order. Paine believes that it is human nature tend to not do the right thing and go against their morals. If there was no government, Paine believes the society will fall apart. Therefore, the government is essential for survival of the society as long as it follows the ideas of the people.

Paine's viewpoint is stated strongly and unequivocally. He believes that the only way the thirteen colonies can thrive is to obtain their independence from Great Britain. He states his reasons at the outset quite clearly, and from the wording, it is argued quite persuasively that in his view, there is really no acceptable option but to fight for independence. Paine does not believe that government is a desirable force in a country, but that it is a necessary one. One of his initial arguments is that because of mankind's basic "impulses of conscience," government is required to keep law and order in the land: "For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver" (Paine, 1776, p. 19). In Paine's view, then, to live

1. Thomas Paine was nothing but an English craftsman who had emigrated to Philadelphia. He was a minor government official as well. Thomas Jefferson was born in America and like Americans in his time, he believed that Britain had a corrupted constitution. Paine soon finds himself joining the advocates where ideas were being created. From there, Paine was influenced to write the pamphlet called, "Common Sense." Both individuals promoted American Independence and made ideas plain to American colonists. Thomas Paine's advantage was the fact that he wasn't raised under Great Britain's Constitution, that gave him ideas and questions to why is America still under British control considering the fact that there are angry Americans.

Common Sense challenged the authority of the British Government. It was the first pamphlet to advocate American Independence. Some of the things Paine covered: the superiority of republican government over a monarchical system, equality of rights among all citizens, and the world significance of the American Independence. Paine wanted his thoughts to be heard and to have other people think about what he has said. His goal was to help America become free from the British.

Thomas Paine had one of the most tremendous impacts during the Revolution because he helped advocate American Independence. His biggest action during the revolution was creating the pamphlet “Common Sense” to help explain why the colonies needed their independence from Britain. Thomas Paine was born into a Quaker family January 29, 1737. He was born in Thetford, England and attended school until the age thirteen at which he was forced to leave England and become an apprentice.

When he stated, “In England a king hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which in plain terms, is to impoverish the nation and set it together by the ears.” it showed both of his objectives in just one sentence (Paine). It showed how destructive and non-pure a monarchy is because all it does is fight and take over other areas, but at the same time it shows how much the colonists need to claim their independence or else they will be in possession of a radical government. Thomas Paine also stated, “For it is the republican and not the monarchical part of the constitution of England which Englishmen glory in, viz. the liberty of choosing an house of commons from out of their own body—and it is easy to see that when republican virtue fails, slavery ensues.” (Paine). This means that the democratic republic is perfect in his opinion but it can’t be perfect when the leader is a monarchy with a king. His use of this simple information allows the common people to understand what he is trying to portray and makes them think the same way he is. Paine’s use of simplicity along with persuasive arguments pushed his views towards people and would eventually lead to the fight for independence in the Revolutionary

Paine was born in England to a Quaker father and an Anglican mother. Paine did not receive a great deal of education, however he was able to read and write. He eventually worked as a tax collector, specifically for liquor and tobacco. He was eventually fired from this job because he was very poor at his work. Thomas Paine had a rather terrible life in England, after being fired his wife and child died during childbirth. After this, he went on and wrote “The case of the Officers of Excise,” which called for higher wages for tax

He believed the British form of government takes away individual liberty and the king is left with no one to look after his decisions. Paine explains that, “The state of a king shuts him from the world, yet the business of king requires him to know it thoroughly…by unnaturally opposing and destroying each other, prove the whole character to be absurd and useless.” How could the king possibly understand what was best for them? The king did what was best for himself and the monarchy and Parliament carried out his

Common Sense was written by an Englishman, Thomas Paine, who came to the American Colonies in 1774. He had strong opinions about the British Monarchy – and monarchy in general – including the fact that by nothing more than an accident of birth one man had rule over so many other humans. He viewed this elevation to monarch unnatural as all men are created equal. Additionally, Paine notes that “there is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of Monarchy; it first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required.” To add weight to that argument that the Monarch is irrelevant to government, Paine also wrote that “Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.” Paine appeals to the every man with this statement. Throughout the section on monarchy he criminalized the King and laid all manner of pitfalls and corruptions at his feet.

In his pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine begins to argue that American should claim full independence from Britain rather than merely fighting to seek freedom from unfair taxation. Thomas Paine begins his arguments with distinguishing the concepts of society and government. According to Paine, Society is when people come together to support each other and to accomplish something by working together. On the other hand, Government as an organization whose sole aim is to prevent the evil in the man. To illustrate his point, Paine presents a small group of people, placed in an isolated island, making them the only beings on that land. Soon, they would find themselves interacting with each other to survive and form a basic sense of community. However, as the size of society continues to grow, they would need to choose representatives to make the law. Paine expressed his disagreement on how British ruled in America, thus he plans to invade on the system of British government. According to Paine, British system is too