Thomas Paine 's Common Sense

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.

During the ratification of the Constitution, Paine was in France helping the revolution, so he was not able to campaign against the document in the United States. Nevertheless this did not stop him from voicing his critiques. Many of Paine’s complaints about the Constitution stem from the differing viewpoints the founding fathers had on human nature versus his own. Whereas Paine had faith in man’s ability to reasoning and self-governing, the founding fathers saw mankind as selfish and inclined towards conflict, incapable of making governing decisions on their own (Parsons, William B 95). It is this belief of the founding fathers that led them to create many of the standout features of the constitution. These features include the bicameral legislature, the powerful executive position, the need for a judiciary branch, and the series of checks and balances put in place throughout government. Paine saw many of these features as unnecessary and crippling to a true democratic system. He stressed the fact that the only true important branch of government was the legislative branch, which would be run by the will of the people in representation. Paine believed that the Constitution took too much power away from the people and hindered the democratic system. According to Paine, all men are equally capable of reasoning, so having a powerful executive position like the president, or a judiciary branch made up of a few wise men made to interpret the laws governing the people, were both backwards and unneeded (Parsons, William B 97). Because of his basic faith in human capabilities to self-govern, Thomas Paine was opposed to the Constitution and the many “big government” features it contains. Although the Constitution still supports a democratic system, it was not Democratic up to Paine’s standards and he

In the previous paragraph, although Paine talked about the flaws that come into play in a government that is run by a single ruler, he then talked about how having a ruler may be inevitable and provides an example of how it may work. Though Paine doesn't argue against having a ruler to the fullest extent due to the amount of oppressive that is seen through having single rulers, he feels that there should be someone in charge but have equal power with other parties, therefore that single person isn't in complete control. According to Paine, " Let the assemblies be annual, with a President only. The representation more equal. Their business wholly domestic, and subject to the authority of a Continental Congress." This shows Paine's thinking on producing a government with equality. In this example, there will be representation from all aspects and people, so they can and will be part of the decision-making as well as the President. Thomas Paine's theory on creating a government with a higher power which is surrounded by equality can flourish due to the elimination of oppression, tyranny, and abuse of power.

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

Thomas Paine claims in Common Sense that the people living in America do not need to tolerate the oppression from their British overlords. His main purpose for writing this pamphlet was to expose the injustice of the British towards the Americans and to persuade those who still believed that the British were either needed or were beneficial for the Americans in 1776. Paine values the idea that the Americans need to revolt against their evil ,oppressive, monarchical rulers in Britain and to establish pure democracy in the Thirteen Colonies. Paine writes from the perspective of an equal to his fellow American man, thus making him relatable from common folk to the wealthy merchants and upper classes. Paine shows the British tyranny over America as horrific and he wishes to expose British faults and impurities to inspire the colonists

During the late 1700's, the colonies and their mother country, Great Britain, were butting heads with immense taxation and the unreasonable laws England placed on the colonies. Thomas Paine was a journalist at the time and published one of his famous works "Common Sense" in 1776. The pamphlet was intended to challenge the British government authority that was overruling the colonial power. The arguments Paine states in Common Sense became some of the deciding factors of the colonies breaking away from Great Britain.

The revolutionary British colonist Thomas Paine, in his pamphlet “Common Sense” (1776), encourages Americans to use of common sense and realize the need of immediate independence from the British Empire. With his rhetorical appeals, figurative language, and structure, Paine manages to convey enthusiasm for the revolutionary cause and the idea of republicanism as the perfect shape of government. Given the importance and the purpose of the message he wants to convey, and the use of an elevated language, his intended audience is the colonists, especially the most influential ones like the Congress.

Making people understand a serious situation like America’s independence is not easy, but Thomas Paine was able to do so through his book, Common Sense. Thomas Paine was able to communicate his ideas to common simple farmers and to the high class intellectuals very easily. He lived at the time of the American Revolution, and Common Sense is one of his main publications that urged Americas’ independence from the British. Born in 1937, Thomas Paine was originally an English man to his father, and he holds radical views on religion which caused him criticism and so little people attending his funeral when he died at 1809. Paine live in a critical time, he lived in the time period that is the most

Thomas Paine was responsible for some of the most influential works of the revolution. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was a very crucial part to America and its movement of independence from Britain. Paine was effective with his writings by being very plain. He wanted both farmers and officials to understand what he was talking about and be able to comprehend his ideas. Paine wanted to put his ideas out to the people of the American colonies so that they could understand it just by reading and not have to analyze and decipher what he was really trying to get across. He wanted to let the colonist know that there was no more room for talking about a split from English rule but it was time for the colonies to unite and take up arms against their British oppressors.

“In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense…” (Paine, 455), the opening line of a book which changed a nation. The renowned American author Thomas Paine writes this straightforward sentence with one task in mind, persuade the American people to declare independence from Britain. Discussing the controversy between the separation of England and the newly formed America 's, the author conveys that America must not only isolate herself from England, but America must also reject a monarchical government. Emphasizing that “Now is the seed-time of Continental union, faith and honor,” (Paine, 456), Paine stresses the urgency of the topic, that what is written must come to pass in the near

During the revolutionary period, new thoughts and ideas were being presented. These ideas ultimately formulated into an American political ideology. Questions were being asked and it was during this time that a new experiment in government would take place. However, before that could occur, great thinkers had to present their ideas and argue for a change in government. Thomas Paine argued for lofty ideals such as freedom, security, and equality. It was through these arguments that he encapsulated the American ideology during this period. Therefore, for the purpose of this paper, I will argue that Thomas Paine’s Common Sense best represents the formulating ideology found during this period. I will first discuss Paine’s argument for

Of all the founding fathers, Thomas Paine best represented the mind of the American people before and during the revolution. His pamphlet, Common Sense is a cornerstone of American literature, and the work that sparked the idea of revolution in so many colonial readers. Common Sense perfectly summarized the frustrations of the American people by analyzing government, freedom and the inevitable independence of the American colonies. The grievances brought to light in Paine’s pamphlet created a sense of solidarity throughout the American people, as well as a sense of solidarity amongst revolutionaries across the world. Consequently, Common Sense became a top seller in revolutionary France and is still the best selling American piece of all time. Another of Paine’s works, African Slavery in America, describes the evils of American Slavery-- a national issue of morality that would not boil over for nearly a century after the publication of Common Sense. Both of these works describe, in part, Paine’s vision of a well governed, independent, free American country. Paine’s vision of a free America was way ahead of his time, making him the quintessential revolutionary.

In colonial America, Britain’s colonies were subjected to many Parliamentary acts that were considered to be, by many of the colonists, oppressive. The Declaratory Act, the Coercive Acts, and numerous other tax-based acts were just a few of the many examples of the controlling behavior displayed by the British Parliament toward their North American colonies. This seemingly oppressive behavior by the British Parliament had not gone unnoticed by those outside of the Colonies, as British citizens had even begun to sympathize for the colonists (Johnson). In all this time, the colonists still viewed themselves as British citizens. Eventually, however, Parliament’s presence and actions in the Colonies had become so great, that the thought of independence began to form in the minds of many colonists. For quite some time, the Colonies were unable to make a decision on whether or not to secede from Great Britain. It took the words from a man named Thomas Paine, through his writing of Common Sense, to finally urge the Colonies onwards to unify and fight for independence.

Thomas Paine was an English American writer, journalist & inventor from the 18th century whose writings help shape the American Revolution. He was born January 29th 1737, he learned how to read with only little education under his belt. As a young man he had a few jobs and was not very good at them suffering multiple failures. Around the same time of his wife’s death during childbirth his business of making ropes had started to fail. He came to America in the fall of 1774 and began his career as a writer.

Thomas Paine was an English-American philosopher, political theorist, political activist, revolutionary, and one of Americas Founding Fathers. He was born on February 9, 1737 in Thetford, United Kingdom. His early life in England consisted of little education, other than reading, writing, and arithmetic, and numerous jobs such as stay maker, corset makers, and an officer. He never exceeded at any of these tasks. It was 1772 where he published his first political article pertaining to the higher pay excise officers should receive. After this, Paine moved to America where he went on to work for Pennsylvania Magazine and write several essays and pamphlets that influenced many Americans during the American Revolution. Some of his crucial pieces of work consist of African Slavery in America, Rights of a Man, The Age of Reason, and perhaps Paine’s