Common+Sense

//**Common Sense**// was a pamphlet, written by Thomas Paine, that was issued in January 1776; it detailed the benefits that would be derived from independence, attacked King George III and monarchy in general, and demanded complete American separation from Great Britain.

**The Gathering Storm**

America had enjoyed a policy of salutary neglect from the British in the century preceding 1763; the British left the colonists alone and allowed them to govern themselves in return for gold and tobacco from the colonies. However, after the French and Indian War, the British passed a series of Acts, such as the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts, that raised taxes on the colonists and limited their rights to assembly and expansion. These acts created tensions that exploded in the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The British, in response to the Boston Tea Party, passed the Coercive or Intolerable Acts. These acts placed even more restrictions on the colonists' rights, inciting even more rebellious feelings among the colonists. However, despite the dissent that was prevalent throughout the colonies, many colonists remained loyal to the British Crown. They feared that independence without an American union could hardly be more than momentary; they felt that it would be preferable to remain within the empire rather than to fall into anarchy. The Americans doubted their ability to form a central government for themselves; they needed to form a republic, but did not know how to create a stable and lasting one. Many Patriots also dreaded social revolution, fearing uprising by the poor even after British authority was shattered. Still, the more aggressive Patriots pressed on toward final separation from the Crown, and in January, 1776, a civilian appeared to voice their wishes.

**"An Englishman"**

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was born in Thetford, England. His father was a Quaker and his mother was Anglican; this may have caused him to view religion with a jaded eye in later life. He attended grammar school for a half dozen years; at age twelve or thirteen, he quit, and was apprenticed to his father in the trade of corset making. In 1757, with his father’s business declining, he moved to London, and later ran away to sea to become a privateersman. In 1760, his first wife and child died in childbirth. In 1768, he became an exciseman in the Sussex town of Lewes. In 1771, he married again, but he and his wife separated soon after; since the death of his first wife, Paine had become cold and uncomfortable with women, and remained so for the rest of his wife. In Lewes, Paine became interested in politics and local affairs; in a campaign to get the salaries of excise officers raised, he moved to London in 1772. There, he met Ben Franklin, who was trying to hold together Britain’s empire. Paine’s campaign failed, and he was again dismissed from the excise service. Things were looking dismal for Paine; fortunately, Franklin took a liking to him, and introduced Paine to his son-in-law, who offered him a job and a new start in America. Almost immediately upon landing in the New World, Paine began writing short pieces for newspapers, taking America’s position in the imperial crisis. It seems that the first thirty years of his life in relative poverty and obscurity at the bottom of British society had primed him to think like an American. After only fourteen months in America, Paine, in January 1776, burst upon the world with his explosive pamphlet, //Common Sense//. **  Radical Ideas: ** During his years in England, Paine had mingled in radical circles, and had picked up from pamphlets and lectures a substantial understanding of the most liberal and radical thinking in the English-speaking world. He was not an original thinker, but he had the ability to put into readable form what others had conceived of. //Common Sense// did not contain any new thoughts, but he lucidly declared the intentions of many radical, enlightened Americans. Paine believed that everybody had a natural moral or social sense that compelled him to reach out to others; he and Thomas Jefferson both believed that humans were innately good. Paine saw society as beneficent and government as malevolent; he believed that society promoted happiness while government created distinctions. Paine wanted America to steer clear of European contentions; he wanted America to flourish economically without the burden of European status. Paine was an anti-federalist; he believed that commerce alone would be enough to hold the states together. These beliefs are what drove him to write //Common Sense//. Paine, after the pamphlet’s release, came to know nearly all the political leaders of the United States. Paine was catapulted to the top of American society. He also published another extraordinary book, //The Rights of Man//, which proclaimed that the age of hereditary monarchy and aristocracy were over; that people were citizens born with equal natural rights; that people created written constitutions that defined and limited their governments; that these constitutions could only be changed by the people themselves; and that the leaders of these governments were only temporary agents of the people. //The Rights of Man// is known as one of the most succinct expressions of American revolutionary political thinking ever written. ** Downfall: ** While these works made Paine a celebrity, he never quite gained entry into the minds of the American People as an American founder; this may be because Paine never appeared as a gentleman. Paine had a careless and slovenly appearance; his dress was drab and coarse, his wig worn and tattered. He was never able to shed the effects of living in poverty near the bottom of English society; due to his crude appearance, he earned the ire of many colleagues, especially for his unconventional views on religion. As a result, his reputation declined; he became secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the Continental Congress in 1777, but his argumentative nature led to his forced resignation in 1779. He became little more than a refugee in America, with no connections, and no true home; he returned to Europe in 1787, where he wrote //The Rights of Man// and became a French Citizen. However, Paine knew little French, and after a brief period in a French prison, he eventually returned to America in 1802, where he was attacked by the press and died in 1807 in unhappiness and obscurity. Paine has been remembered by the American people as a man with revolutionary ideas; he was a brilliant writer who composed two of the greatest and most influential documents in American history. However, he was always a man ahead of his times, and as a result was never fully appreciated for his monumental contributions to the American Revolution.
 * Early Life:**

**46 Pages**

The main reason this pamphlet sold so well and was so influential was the conventional language that Paine used when writing it. Unlike most pamphlets at the time, he used common language, so that his message could and would be understood by the common man. The pamphlet “Common Sense” is broken up into four separate sections. The sections are shown on the title page. Along with the sections, the title page also contains a quote from James Thompson in his book Liberty that says, “Man knows no master save creating heaven, Or those whom choice and common good ordain.”

**I. Of the Origin and Design of Government in general with concise remarks on the English Constitution. **
====Paine begins the first section by making the distinction between government and society, stating that governments are created by society to establish rules and laws. Paine states that a well designed society has some restricted behaviors, but the people agree that certain rules are to never be restricted. Then, he uses a story to tell the evolution of a society and the formation of government. The society starts with a group of people who create a government to protect their rights. The government than creates laws, and taxes so they can protect the rights of the people. He continues to describe this natural democratic society, and then compares it with the current British Monarchy, in which there is a non elected king with an excessive amount of power. He assualts the English constitution, calling it tyrannical and monarchial, with the people being oppressed. He criticizes the country and accuses it of having a monarchial and aristocratic tyranny. ====

**II. Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession **
====In the second section Paine goes on to analyze the current monarchy in the British society and other monarchies in general. Growing up in England he had experienced firsthand what it was like to live in England, and experienced firsthand what it was like to live under a monarchy. He attacks the belief in a monarchy that one individual is better than everyone else, making him king. He uses several bible verses to make his points. He then continues to attack a constitutional monarchy, which he states is foolish. He writes how the purpose of it is to separate the powers and keep the king from being to tyrannical, but if they do not want the king to be tyrannical they should just get rid of him in the first place. He states that the logical cure of the country would be to get rid of the monarchy part of the constitutional monarchy. ====

**III. Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs. **
====In the third section, Thomas gives his input on the current American condition and how he thinks they should act toward the English. He suggests a revolution because America receives no single advantage from being subjects to British but receive many disadvantages from their hostilities. If they are to win this revolution, he feels that they would need their own //Magna Carta//. This //Continental Charter// as he called it was to be created by a mix between the people and the Congress. The way that he believed this country would be created is that each colony would elect 5 representatives to go along with two people from the convention to draft a constitution that would protect peoples freedoms and create a new government which he thought would include a Congress. This new constitution that is drafted would have the states divided up into districts, and these districts would then send about 30 delegates per state to congress. This Congress would also elect the president, with a lottery system deciding which state decides the candidates and then a vote by Congress chooses the new president. Lastly, Paine thought that passing laws should require a three fifths approval by Congress. ====

**IV. Of the Present Ability of America, with some Miscellaneous Reflections. **
The last section is a short one, in which Paine reveals his thoughts on the present ability of America. He believes that the American army is strong enough to take on the British Army. He believes this is true due to our vast resources, which he believed could easily create a powerful Navy.

**Fanning the Flames of Liberty**

==== The first //Common Sense// had an initial effect similar to that of dropping a lit match on a puddle of gasoline: instantaneous and explosive. Colonists from every class could easily relate to its eloquent, yet easy to follow language. The fact that it was first published anonymously only added to its mystique, and when it was originally attributed to such repected Americans as Johan Adams and Benjamin Franklin. It quickly became one of America’s first bestsellers, selling an estimated 100,000 copies in the first three months. No one knows how many were actually printed (//Common Sense// became incredibly successful abroad as well), but is estimated that there were 300,000 in all. For a book to do that well today, it would have to sell about 24,000,000 copies. ==== ==== America had previously nurtured a love for Britain, and indeed, many of the colonists had no desire to separate from the mother country. They simply wanted to repeal what they saw as unfair laws, and continue to reap the benefits of being loyal British subjects. //Common Sense// changed all that. In his vicious attack on the monarchy and the “royal brute” King George, any doubts about the wisdom of revolution swiftly evaporated. With his invocation of John Locke, and his own radical ideas about the purpose of government, Paine exposed the inequality and corruption in the royal court. The disgust of the colonists translated into a call to arms. Common Sense first appeared in January 1776, and it is no coincidence that the Declaration of Independence was written and passed by July. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, among many others, cited this anonymous pamphlet as the final catalyst for independence. ==== ==== With //Common Sense//, Americans had a cause to fight for, something that the British did not have. To the often apathetic British regulars, this was a war that, from the start, was about King George's own ego, and the squabblings of the upper class Parliamentary officials. The common American colonist, on the other hand, had his very destiny on the line, and would not be willing to give it up easily. This gave the Americans an intense fighting spirit, allowing them to win a surprising number of battles against the strongest military force in the world at that time. ==== ==== Taking all of these factors into account, it is going too far to say that //Common Sense// began and ended the American War for independence. Within his radical 46 pages, Paine outlined the reasons to rebel with a conviction that had not yet been seen on the floor of any assembly in the colonies. It was not just the educated delegates that he convinced, however. More importantly, Paine erased the lingering doubts in the minds of the common American, the one who would provide the majority of cannon fodder. //Common Sense// thus provided the means and motive for the American Revolution, two things that had previously been lacking in sufficient quantities to justity independence. The stage had been set for the war that would forever alter the course of human history. The farmers and traders, the statesmen and scientists now became the idealistic soldiers that could only accept two possible outcomes: Liberty or Death. ====

God Bless America.



 * References**

1. Alden, John Richard. //A History of the American Revolution//,. New York: Knopf, 1969. Print. 2. Davidson, Philip. //Propaganda and the American Revolution 1763-1783//. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Pr., 1941. Print. 3. Fruchtman, Jack. //Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom//. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1994. Print. 4. Liell, Scott. //46 Pages: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, and the Turning Point to American Independence//. Philadelphia: Running, 2003. Print. 5. McCullough, David G. //John Adams//. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Print. 6. McCullough, David G. //1776//. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. Print 7. Paine, Thomas, and Thomas Paine. //Common Sense//. New York: Penguin, 2005. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">8. Postman, Neil. //Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business//. New York: Penguin, 1986. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">9. Wilensky, Mark, Thomas Paine, and Totie Richardson. //The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine: Common Sense//. [Arvada, Colo.]:13 Stars Pub., 2005. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">10. Wood, Gordon S. //Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different//. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.