After more than a decade of growing tensions over taxes, British imperial policy, the power of colonial legislatures, and a host of other emotionally charged issues, in April 1775 the American Revolution began with the clash between British regulars and American militiamen at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. In May, the Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen took Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, and in June the British defeated colonial troops in the Battle of Bunker Hill outside of Boston at the cost of more than a thousand casualties.Despite these events, in the summer and fall of 1775 most Americans still supported compromise and reconciliation with Great Britain. They were convinced that evil ministers, not the king, were responsible for British policy and that views of conciliatory British politicians such as Edmund Burke would prevail. Then in January 1776 there appeared in Philadelphia a thirty-five page pamphlet entitled Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, a bankrupt one-time corset-maker, sailor, tobacconist, and minor customs official, who had immigrated to Pennsylvania from England only fourteen months earlier to escape debtor’s prison. Despite his background, Paine produced what was far and away the most brilliant political pamphlet written during the American Revolution, and perhaps ever in the English language.
In three months Common Sense sold more than 100,000 copies, one for every eight or ten adults in the colonies. It “burst from the press,” wrote Benjamin Rush, the Pennsylvania physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, “with an effect which has rarely been produced in any age or country.” Written with passion and vivid imagery, Paine’s pamphlet brought into focus American reservations about England and expressed American aspirations for creating a newer, freer, more open society as an independent nation. It accelerated the move toward the events of July 2, 1776, when the delegates to the Second Continental Congress created the United States of America, and of July 4, when they signed the Declaration of Independence.
During the Revolutionary War, Paine fought in Washington’s army and composed pamphlets to bolster American spirits. In the late 1780s, he returned to England but in 1792 was forced to flee to France after his public support of the French Revolution led to his indictment for sedition. Chosen as a delegate to the French National Convention (although he knew no French), Paine was later imprisoned for ten months during the Reign of Terror, and on his release resided with James Monroe, the American ambassador to France. While in France, he attacked Christianity in his pamphlet The Age of Reason, the notoriety of which was such that on his return to the United States in 1802 he was vilified as an atheist. Impoverished and disgraced, he died unheralded in New York City in 1809 (heck of a little known biography isn’t it?).
You can read excerpts from Paine’s Common Sense by clicking here. After you are finished reading the document, I would like you all to consider and discuss the following: What are Paine’s views of the origins and defects of monarchy as a form of government and hereditary succession as a principle of government? What are his views of King George III? What characteristics does Paine ascribe to Great Britain in general and the British government in particular? How might his background explain his negative views? How does Paine counter the arguments of Americans who still sought reconciliation with Great Britain? Despite Paine’s rejection of the British government, do his ideas in Common Sense owe a debt to principles of the English Bill of Rights? What is there about the pamphlet’s language, tone, and arguments that might explain its enormous popularity? Your thoughts…
14 comments:
Paine seems extremely anti-monarchy. He believes in the parlimentary system of the people having representation and being able to choose their leader. He views King George as an evil dictator (lack of a beter word) who didn't let the colonists have their rightful voice. He says that the King still has power of the entire government and could easily effect the nation and colonies in a ngative way. His history played into this because he was on the recievin end of all the King's orders, which is what more than likely put him into debt.
It is very interesting how he references the Bible in the pamphlet, but in the short biography, it says that he later blasted Christianity. He also references the fact that although one leader may be good, his children may not be, which is the case for most kingdoms or empires. He not only bangs on the British Empire, he gives perfectly valid reasons that everyone will be able to understand. He has some form of evidence to back up his arguments. He also lays out a foundation for a new government, with similar ideas to the Enlightenment. This document is quite simple and easy to comprehend, which would explain its popularity
I think that a possible reason why Paine thought so negatively about governments, is because the british government was out to get him for not paying his taxes. I guess he was a big believer of no taxation without representation.
Paine is anti-monarchy because he was probably an Enlightenment thinker just like the rest of the American revolutionaries like Thomas Jefferson. He obviously didn't like King George IIi, as he called him the "Pharaoh of England" and said basically that he was a pretender who did nothing for his people. He also thinks that the British government is unstable and about to go to chaos.
Paine really hates monarchy systems. HE seems to dislike anything that puts one man in power of everything. This is probobly because of his experiences with the british government during this time period.
Thomas Paine was feeling "unfair" to hereditary succession becuase most of those people were not worthy of the power and wealth, and did not work for those positions in society. He despises the King becuase he is "bossy"-"YOu shall not make laws but what i please."
Paine mentions the absurdness and stubborness of the British monarch, not advancing the colonies in any way. He states that america's king should be the law-enlightenment idea.
The language is persuasive; the whole document points out the Britain's wrong doings and the necessary fixation.
Paine speaks out strongly against monarchies, not only as idolatry, leading us away from god, but also the sense that it is, though simplistic, too prone to error and violence. He despises hereditary succession, for the reason that a "rogue or a fool" be put in charge of government. He makes a valid point. After all, it tore the Gunpowder empires apart at the seams, for when they feared their sons, they blinded them, caged them, stupified them, or made addicts out of them just to maintain their reign without regard to the reign of their empire.
Really simple, very straightforward with his ideas. He talks of absolutism as it says, a disgrace to human nature. Saying the absolute government doesn't do anything if it doesn't involve them. He's right but I think really isn't that what we humans are made of...? He compares the absolute government with some man and a prostitute together.
I completely agree with his argument about the Monarchy system. Having a certain family be automatic royalty from birth is rarely a good idea. As proven from the past, having heirs to the throne makes the current ruler paranoid and more often than not, causing them to distrust the possible successors in favor of their life leaving the country in the hands of an inadequate ruler. Also if there are multiple heirs to the throne, then whenever the chance to seize the throne arrives the heirs will battle each other for the chance to rule, often corrupting the government further. The country should be ruled by whomever is most fit for the job at that point of time in history.
Paine starts out by stating the lack of attention that the British government gives the colonies. He also strongly disagrees with the concept of hereditary succession. Just because the next king is related doesn't mean that he is the best qualified. This document was enormously popular because of its inspiring tone and logic. When the common people read the document, they were faced with the reality. They were being treated unfair and were always a step below the British. Paine's tone also comes into account. He bashes the British along with their form of government to hopefully fire the people up.
Thomas Paine shows a strong dislike towards a system of monarchy with one man in charge. He has probably had to deal with places like Britan and grown a distaste for them. He wants the people to be able to choose their leader and have some sort of input into the government.
Thomas Paine viewed negatively on an absolute monarchy. He believed in a parliamentary system, something with more checks and balances of power. Paine also views negatively on the practice of hereditary succession. I agree with this, because even though one ruler is excellent, his son has no guarantee at all of being the same. The skill of a ruler is based on the decisions he makes, not on his bloodline.
Thomas Paine was a big fan of the Enlightenment- this pamphlet is a good example of Enlightenment thinking.
The only advantage of an absolute monarchy, Paine says, is that it is simple. Yet, he says that monarchy is evil and unfit to rule. I especially like this sentence: "And as a man who is attached to a prostitute
is unfitted to choose or judge of a wife, so any prepossession
in favor of a rotten constitution of government
will disable us from discerning a good
one."
He argues that heriditary succession is flawed and unfair because ssons of great kings might be idiots. Paine slaps King George III in the face. But aen't monarchs needed to keep cicil war from breaking out? To this Paine says that monarchs are the cause of civil. "The whole history of England disowns the
fact. Thirty kings and two minors have reigned
in that distracted kingdom since the conquest,2
in which time there have been (including the
Revolution) no less than eight civil wars and
nineteen rebellions. Wherefore instead of makirTg
for peace, it makes against it, and destroys
the very foundation it seems to stand upon."
He uses humor in the form of witty comparisons to get his point accross, which is probably why it was so successful. "We may as well assert that because a child
has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have
meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is
to become a precedent for the next twenty." Paine's negative views on the English parliament possibly come from his failure there. Paine probably saw a problem with the way kings were priveledged through birth, but he failed to make a living by working and benifitting the state.
But England protects the colonies, right? To this Paine states that they might, but they do it only for themselves, not for the sake of colonists. "she did not protect
us from our enemies on our account, but from
her enemies on her own account, from those who
had no quarrel with us on any other account, and
who will always be our enemies on the same
account. . . ."
Common Sense and the American Revolution was influenced by the English Bill of Rights. Ideas of checks and ballances are seen in the bill of rights, as well asd the idea of voting for officials. The Bill of Rights mention the abolishment of harsh and unjust taxes and punishments. The American Revolution was different in that it viewed a king as evil and repessive. While parliament had a king, the United States gov did not.
We learned abou Common Sense in eighth grade, but they never told us that he was involved in the Reign of Terror. They did not tell us about The Age of Reason either, and the did not tell of his death as an unheralded athiest...
Paine does not like the idea of successor because he does not think the country should be ruled under the same family forever and he likes for people to have a say. Paine says that America does not need a connection with Britain again for future happiness because that is like a child that has thrived apon milk cannot then eat meat. By his tone, lanuage, and arguments, I can see that this pamphlit was very popular because of its many enlightenment ideas leading it away from the British king much less Britain to a government that men can have a say in things.
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