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Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolution. Paine wrote it with editorial feedback from Benjamin Rush, who came up with the title. The document denounced British rule and, through its immense popularity, contributed to fomenting the American Revolution. The second edition was published soon thereafter. A third edition, with an accounting of the worth of the British navy, an expanded appendix, and a response to criticism by the Quakers, was published on February 14, 1776. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... For other uses, see Common sense (disambiguation). ... Common sense may refer to : Common sense, that which is broadly accepted without dependence upon esoteric knowledge or study or research Common Sense, a revolutionary pamphlet by Thomas Paine Common Sense, an earlier name of rapper Common Common Sense, a semi-monthly, right-wing, U.S. publication in the mid... Download high resolution version (510x800, 130 KB)Common Sense This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Download high resolution version (510x800, 130 KB)Common Sense This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Paine (disambiguation). ... is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1776 (MDCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... Dr. Benjamin Rush, painted by Charles Wilson Peale, c. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Paine donated the copyright for Common Sense to the states, and as one biographer noted, Paine made nothing off the estimated 150,000 to 600,000 copies that were eventually printed (various sources disagree on the number of printed copies in Paine's lifetime). In fact, he had to pay for the first printing himself.

Substance of Pamphlet

Arguments against British rule in Common Sense:

• It is ridiculous and against natural law for an island to rule a continent.
• Europe is unlikely to see peace for long, and whenever a war breaks out between England and a foreign power, the trade of America would go to ruin because of the economic connection.
• It is no longer a "British nation"; it is composed of influences from all of Europe.
• Even if Britain was originally the "mother country" of America, that makes her current actions all the more horrendous, for no true mother would harm her children so deplorably.
• Remaining a part of Britain will drag America into unnecessary European wars, and keep it from the international commerce at which America excels.
• That government is best that governs least.
• Society represents all that is good about humanity; government represents all that is bad about it.
• The distance between the two nations makes the lag in communication time about a year for something to go round trip. If there was something wrong in the government, it would take a year before the colonies would hear back.
• The New World was discovered before the Reformation. This was evidence for the Puritans that God wanted to give them America as a safe haven free from the persecution of British rule.
• Criticizes the English Constitution, saying that the right for the House of Commons to "check" the king is meaningless. The king claims the right to rule by God and overrule Parliament at will; therefore, any "checking" is at best a misnomer.

The publication of this pamphlet was key in the growth of popular support for independence from Britain. Thomas Jefferson took ideas from both this publication and John Locke when writing the Declaration of Independence. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Frontispiece of Peter Martyr dAnghieras De orbe novo (On the New World). Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, 1722. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The Puritans were members of a group of radical Protestants which developed in England after the Reformation. ... Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 N.S.–4 July 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–09), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. ... For other persons named John Locke, see John Locke (disambiguation). ... The United States Declaration of Independence was an act of the Second Continental Congress, adopted on July 4, 1776, which declared that the Thirteen Colonies were independent of Great Britain. ...

Less-quoted sections of the pamphlet include Paine's optimistic view of America's military potential at the time of the Revolution. For example, he spends pages describing how colonial shipyards, by using the large amounts of lumber available in the country, could quickly create a navy that could rival the Royal Navy. This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ...

Proposed constitution

Constitution of the United States as proposed by Thomas Paine in Common Sense

In the pamphlet, Thomas Paine proposes a constitution of the United States as well as a method to be used for the purpose of drafting a Continental Charter (or Charter of the United Colonies) that would be an American Magna Carta. The diagram on the left provides a visual representation of the proposed system, which featured a combination of elections through ballot voting and allotment in order to select the president as well as the passing of laws with no less than 3/5 of the Congress: Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 578 pixelsFull resolution (1075 × 777 pixel, file size: 62 KB, MIME type: image/png) What it is: A diagram representing the constitution of the United States as proposed by Thomas Paine in Common Sense Author: Mathieu Gauthier-Pilote (User:Mathieugp... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 578 pixelsFull resolution (1075 × 777 pixel, file size: 62 KB, MIME type: image/png) What it is: A diagram representing the constitution of the United States as proposed by Thomas Paine in Common Sense Author: Mathieu Gauthier-Pilote (User:Mathieugp...

Quotations

• "Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins." (opening line)

• "I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense . . ."

• "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom."

• "Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil."

• "Time makes more converts than reason."

• "Every thing that is right or natural pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, 'tis time to part."

• "But where says some is the king of America? I'll tell you friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Britain. ... so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is king."

• "O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her--Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."

• ". . . we have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the noblest purest constitution on the face of the earth. We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand, and a race of men, perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the event of a few months."

• "That there are men in all countries who get their living by war, and by keeping up the quarrels of Nations, is as shocking as it is true; but when those who are concerned in the government of a country make it their study to sow discord, and cultivate prejudices among Nations, it becomes the more unpardonable."

• "Wherefore, since nothing but blows will do, for God's sake, let us come to a final separation."

• "Small islands not capable of protecting themselves are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something very absurd in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island."

Common Sense used many Biblical references to support its assertions, playing to the strong influence of religion in Colonial America. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Young people interacting within an ethnically diverse society. ... Vice is a practice or habit that is considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. ... “George III” redirects here. ... For the comic series, see Monarchy (comics). ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items into other sections and removing inappropriate items. (May 2007)

• Common Sense was attacked by many loyalist writers of the time. One of the more famous examples was the pamphlet entitled Plain Truth written by Lt. Col. James Chalmers under the pen name "Candidus" in 1776.
• The only book to outsell Common Sense at the height of its popularity was The Bible.
• Despite all the success of "Common Sense," Paine died poor and in obscurity.
• A section of Common Sense was quoted in the video game Deus Ex, and can be found in a weapon's dealer's house in Paris.
• In the game Morrowind, a group of underground authors opposed to the King of in Mournhold create a pamphlet called The Common Tongue, a reference to Common Sense, which speaks of liberties against the nation's ruler.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Lt. ... The Bible (From Greek βιβλια—biblia, meaning books, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported papyrus) is the sacred scripture of Christianity. ... This article is about the video game. ... The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (aka Morrowind) is a computer role-playing game by Bethesda Softworks, and the third in The Elder Scrolls series of games. ... Mournhold is a fictional location in The Elder Scrolls series of computer role-playing games. ...

Further reading

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Common Sense

• Scott Liell, 46 Pages: Tom Paine, Common Sense, and the Turning Point to American Independence, Running Press, April, 2003, hardcover, 160 pages, ISBN 0-7624-1507-X; trade paperback, March, 2004, 176 pages, ISBN 0-7624-1813-3.
• Moncure David Conway, The Life of Thomas Paine

Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ...

See also

The Age of Reason, also written by Thomas Paine. For the 18th Century intellectual and scientific movement, see The Age of Enlightenment. ...

External links

Book text

• At ushistory.org .
• Project Gutenberg: #147 & #3755
• Common Sense in mp3 audio at Americana Phonic