You're smoked. And Monarchy's what's burning. Actually, he makes perfect sense and writes everything out logically. But- pretty sure that's what he would have said if it was allowed. Satisfied now, pacifists? Well, we must work on this. Ah, yes, it has a A pretty business indeed for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshipped into the bargain!
Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. Your loyal biographer aka myself is not going to waste time looking up what I actually read when I could be grossly misrepresenting an important historical figure. A section on why hereditary succession makes no sense, with the aforementioned Old Testament thesis, along with the refutation of "it prevents civil wars," by, of course, harping incredulously on the Wars of the Roses and the other civil wars England's been through.
What's the point to shed blood over one tax law when we could just get our independence while we're at it? It'll be a quick and painless transition and your grandchildren will thank you.
Also, I have some great ideas for the American government and constitution. It was an inevitable break, as Paine mentions in pt. II, and at a later date it could have only been messier- and leaving us with a worse government. Guess who built Britain's navy? Yes, us. There's about enough forest left over there for two ships. It's a big reason they colonized here in the first place, nincompoops. We are currently exporting sailcloth and timber and we have the largest ship factories in the world!
But seriously, remind me why we even need a big navy anyway? Aren't the British kinda at war with thirty other countries right now? They CAN'T send their whole navy at us. Come on. So there you have it! The United States of America: a birthing guide. As a historically significant document, it ranks with the Declaration of Independence; as a well-reasoned thesis, it trumps every college paper I've had the misfortune to read; as a lovely bit of early American sass Go read it. View all 11 comments.
Feb 02, Paula W rated it it was amazing. Most Americans have at least a general knowledge of the events that sparked the American Revolution. Long story short and super simplified — British Parliament passed the Tea Act in mid allowing a British tea company to sell basically untaxed tea from China in the colonies while the colonists were still being taxed and therefore forced to sell higher priced tea.
This set off an intense debate about the colonists being taxed without representation, culminating in the Boston Tea Party.
As p Most Americans have at least a general knowledge of the events that sparked the American Revolution. This ignited protests and acts of defiance throughout the 13 colonies, and the war officially started in April when the British came by sea, famously heralded throughout the colonies by Paul Revere.
When the first edition of Common Sense was published in January , the Seige of Boston was still ongoing. Many people were outraged by British actions but wanted a reconciliation while many other colonists were deeply religious and believed wholeheartedly in the divinity of the monarchy. Thomas Paine wrote this pamphlet a rather large pamphlet to address every single argument against declaring independence, from the absurdity of heredity succession to the unvarnished truth of the current state of affairs in the colonies.
He outlined how presidential and congressional elections might work. He described the advantages of their location, natural resources, and acquired resources. He wrapped up with a condemnation on the morals, intelligence, and manhood of anyone who thought independence was a bad idea. Complex concepts are thrown out and then explained with metaphors and stories so that the colonists could understand.
Much of it is written via the style of a Southern Baptist fire-and-brimstone Sunday church sermon. Before long, everyone who was anyone, and everyone who was no one, were reading this piece, and not just in the colonies. It became a bit of an international success, too. And it was exactly what was needed at exactly the right time. Common Sense sent the colonists into a frenzy and was the primary cause of the overwhelming support for a Declaration of Independence that would be written and signed just a few months later.
We have Thomas Paine to thank for giving us a shot. Jul 04, Kimber rated it it was amazing Shelves: history. Still rings true By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue;by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils-a ravaged country-a depopulated city-habitations without safety, and slavery without hope.
P to one of our great Americans, Thomas Paine. Something everyone should read, study and learn to understand. This pamphlet made a new world. We need such men to stand and inspire us to do the same once again. Jul 28, Jan Priddy rated it it was amazing. This is the booklet that pushed us to become a free country. Except I do. Historian Roy Basler, the editor of Lincoln's papers, said Paine had a strong influence on Lincoln's style: "No other writer of the eighteenth century, with the exception of Jefferson, parallels more closely the temper or gist of Lincoln's later thought.
In style, Paine above all others affords the variety of eloquence which, chastened and adapted to Lincoln's own mood, is revealed in Lincoln's formal writings. Paine argues hard anonymously , panders to his mostly-Protestant audience, and ultimately convinces a group of colonies to think of themselves as a nation, an independent republic, a people entitled to freedom from inherited monarchy by their natural right to liberty. It is an astounding counterargument to everything Europe stood for at that time, setting reason against the divine right of kings.
It is a challenge today to understand how revolutionary this was in his day—this notion that no one should be born to privilege. Both the free-thinker Thomas Jefferson and the Baptists of the South opposed establishment of an official religion because they wanted to protect their specific belief system against government interference and the imposition of an official religion.
The language may be awkward to read today, but this is still essential reading for anyone interested in the principles upon which our nation was founded..
Nov 24, Yara The Narratologist rated it it was amazing Shelves: politics , essays-and-theory , 18th-century , books-i-own , history. I want a revelation! Common Sense is a remarkable read that holds up incredibly well, and worth reading for anyone interested in history or political philosophy. Read More View all 4 comments. Mar 01, Moonkiszt rated it it was amazing Shelves: military-involved , adults-authors-explaining-stuff , politics-philosophiesofhumans , morphing-into-something-else , we-the-people-patriots-freedoms-see , world-events-inspiriting , be-outraged , its-all-about-choices , a-mighty-act-of-persuasion , social-system-failure.
Having never read this oft-mentioned founding document, I dove in. It took awhile to acclimatize, to the language, to gather facts and fictions about the era and population Thomas Paine addresses in his famous work, but I got the gist of it. I found inspiration and wisdom in it. I recognized so many phrases and sentiments that rang true, although I am not of his time.
It is clear I have been carefully taught these things my entire life. That stuns me, a little, waving in my free brain thoughts ta Having never read this oft-mentioned founding document, I dove in.
That stuns me, a little, waving in my free brain thoughts tagged by nervous flags that of these I should take note, should consider, should ponder on that. Truth or taught. It resonates within me as truthful and real, so I'm going with that. Thanks for that mighty act of persuasion, Mr.
Jul 04, Jonfaith rated it liked it. One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise, she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion. Unfortunate that the knee-jerk Right has appropriated this polished wit. I can't see how is reconciles with the specks of froth about emails and birth certificates. Baggage eschewed, this remains a powerful pamphlet, a catalyst for defiance. Not as convincing as J.
Mill, but one rife with One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise, she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion. Mill, but one rife with images and optimism. Shelves: audiobook , revolution , classic , 18th-century , american-history , essays , non-fiction , politics.
Like most Americans, I've read the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence, but maybe not all of it recently, and not much of the actual writings of the founding fathers. So this Audible daily deal seemed like a good thing to add to my commute. Thomas Paine's famous polemic is a quick and easy listen, because that's how he intended it to be - indeed, it was read throughout the colonies, in inns and taverns and meeting houses, to a population that was well-educated fo Like most Americans, I've read the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence, but maybe not all of it recently, and not much of the actual writings of the founding fathers.
In the epilogue, Liell simply summarizes Paine's subsequent career as a political writer. This colorless book hardly seems just recognition for one of liberty's most dedicated spokesmen and his revolutionary pamphlet. Ellis should spark sales. View Full Version of PW.
What exactly made this pamphlet so appealing? But this one is richer and more rewarding than the others. It invites readers to encounter Common Sense in the fullness of its historical setting. And as it does, it makes plain how utterly Tom Paine towered above all other Revolutionary writers. Zuckerman, University of Pennsylvania. Selected from the rest of mankind, their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.
Another evil which attends hereditary succession is, that the throne is subject to be possessed by a minor at any age; all which time the regency acting under the cover of a king have every opportunity and inducement to betray their trust.
The same national misfortune happens when a king worn out with age and infirmity enters the last stage of human weakness. In both these cases the public becomes a prey to every miscreant who can tamper successfully with the follies either of age or infancy. The most plausible plea which hath ever been offered in favor of hereditary succession is, that it preserves a nation from civil wars; and were this true, it would be weighty; whereas it is the most bare-faced falsity ever imposed upon mankind.
The whole history of England disowns the fact. Thirty kings and two minors have reigned in that distracted kingdom since the conquest, in which time there has been including the revolution no less than eight civil wars and nineteen Rebellions.
Wherefore instead of making for peace, it makes against it, and destroys the very foundation it seems to stand upon. The contest for monarchy and succession, between the houses of York and Lancaster, laid England in a scene of blood for many years. Twelve pitched battles besides skirmishes and sieges were fought between Henry and Edward.
Twice was Henry prisoner to Edward, who in his turn was prisoner to Henry. And so uncertain is the fate of war and the temper of a nation, when nothing but personal matters are the ground of a quarrel, that Henry was taken in triumph from a prison to a palace, and Edward obliged to fly from a palace to a foreign land; yet, as sudden transitions of temper are seldom lasting, Henry in his turn was driven from the throne, and Edward re-called to succeed him. The parliament always following the strongest side.
This contest began in the reign of Henry the Sixth, and was not entirely extinguished till Henry the Seventh, in whom the families were united. Including a period of 67 years, viz.
In short, monarchy and succession have laid not this or that kingdom only but the world in blood and ashes. If we enquire into the business of a King, we shall find that in some countries they may have none; and after sauntering away their lives without pleasure to themselves or advantage to the nation, withdraw from the scene, and leave their successors to tread the same idle round.
The nearer any government approaches to a Republic, the less business there is for a King. It is somewhat difficult to find a proper name for the government of England. Sir William Meredith calls it a Republic; but in its present state it is unworthy of the name, because the corrupt influence of the Crown, by having all the places in its disposal, hath so effectually swallowed up the power, and eaten out the virtue of the House of Commons the Republican part in the constitution that the government of England is nearly as monarchical as that of France or Spain.
Men fall out with names without understanding them. Why is the constitution of England sickly, but because monarchy hath poisoned the Republic; the Crown hath engrossed the Commons. In England a King hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which, in plain terms, is to empoverish the nation and set it together by the ears. A pretty business indeed for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshipped into the bargain!
Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense: and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves: that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day.
Volumes have been written on the subject of the struggle between England and America. Men of all ranks have embarked in the controversy, from different motives, and with various designs; but all have been ineffectual, and the period of debate is closed.
Arms as the last resource decide the contest; the appeal was the choice of the King, and the Continent has accepted the challenge. It hath been reported of the late Mr. The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. Now is the seed-time of Continental union, faith and honour. The least fracture now will be like a name engraved with the point of a pin on the tender rind of a young oak; the wound would enlarge with the tree, and posterity read it in full grown characters.
Whatever was advanced by the advocates on either side of the question then, terminated in one and the same point, viz. As much hath been said of the advantages of reconciliation, which, like an agreeable dream, hath passed away and left us as we were, it is but right that we should examine the contrary side of the argument, and enquire into some of the many material injuries which these Colonies sustain, and always will sustain, by being connected with and dependant on Great-Britain.
To examine that connection and dependance, on the principles of nature and common sense, to see what we have to trust to, if separated, and what we are to expect, if dependant. I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished under her former connection with Great-Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect.
Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. 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.
But even this is admitting more than is true; for I answer roundly, that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her. The commerce by which she hath enriched herself are the necessaries of life, and will always have a market while eating is the custom of Europe. But she has protected us, say some. That she hath engrossed us is true, and defended the Continent at our expense as well as her own, is admitted; and she would have defended Turkey from the same motive, viz.
We have boasted the protection of Great Britain, without considering, that her motive was interest not attachment; and that 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. Let Britain waive her pretensions to the Continent, or the Continent throw off the dependance, and we should be at peace with France and Spain, were they at war with Britain.
The miseries of Hanover last war ought to warn us against connections. It hath lately been asserted in parliament, that the Colonies have no relation to each other but through the Parent Country, i. France and Spain never were, nor perhaps ever will be, our enemies as Americans, but as our being the subjects of Great Britain.
But Britain is the parent country, say some. Then the more shame upon her conduct. Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon their families; Wherefore, the assertion, if true, turns to her reproach; but it happens not to be true, or only partly so, and the phrase parent or mother country hath been jesuitically adopted by the King and his parasites, with a low papistical design of gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakness of our minds.
Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new World hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still. In this extensive quarter of the globe, we forget the narrow limits of three hundred and sixty miles the extent of England and carry our friendship on a larger scale; we claim brotherhood with every European Christian, and triumph in the generosity of the sentiment.
It is pleasant to observe by what regular gradations we surmount the force of local prejudices, as we enlarge our acquaintance with the World.
A man born in any town in England divided into parishes, will naturally associate most with his fellow parishioners because their interests in many cases will be common and distinguish him by the name of neighbour; if he meet him but a few miles from home, he drops the narrow idea of a street, and salutes him by the name of townsman; if he travel out of the county and meet him in any other, he forgets the minor divisions of street and town, and calls him countryman, i.
And by a just parity of reasoning, all Europeans meeting in America, or any other quarter of the globe, are countrymen; for England, Holland, Germany, or Sweden, when compared with the whole, stand in the same places on the larger scale, which the divisions of street, town, and county do on the smaller ones; Distinctions too limited for Continental minds.
Not one third of the inhabitants, even of this province, [Pennsylvania], are of English descent. Wherefore, I reprobate the phrase of Parent or Mother Country applied to England only, as being false, selfish, narrow and ungenerous.
But, admitting that we were all of English descent, what does it amount to? Britain, being now an open enemy, extinguishes every other name and title: and to say that reconciliation is our duty, is truly farcical. The first king of England, of the present line William the Conqueror was a Frenchman, and half the peers of England are descendants from the same country; wherefore, by the same method of reasoning, England ought to be governed by France. Much hath been said of the united strength of Britain and the Colonies, that in conjunction they might bid defiance to the world: But this is mere presumption; the fate of war is uncertain, neither do the expressions mean any thing; for this continent would never suffer itself to be drained of inhabitants, to support the British arms in either Asia, Africa, or Europe.
Besides, what have we to do with setting the world at defiance? Our plan is commerce, and that, well attended to, will secure us the peace and friendship of all Europe; because it is the interest of all Europe to have America a free port.
Her trade will always be a protection, and her barrenness of gold and silver secure her from invaders. I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single advantage that this continent can reap by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge; not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for buy them where we will. But the injuries and disadvantages which we sustain by that connection, are without number; and our duty to mankind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce the alliance: because, any submission to, or dependance on, Great Britain, tends directly to involve this Continent in European wars and quarrels, and set us at variance with nations who would otherwise seek our friendship, and against whom we have neither anger nor complaint.
As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no partial connection with any part of it. It is the true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do, while, by her dependance on Britain, she is made the make-weight in the scale of British politics.
Europe is too thickly planted with Kingdoms to be long at peace, and whenever a war breaks out between England and any foreign power, the trade of America goes to ruin, because of her connection with Britain.
The next war may not turn out like the last, and should it not, the advocates for reconciliation now will be wishing for separation then, because neutrality in that case would be a safer convoy than a man of war. Every thing that is right or reasonable pleads for separation.
Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other, was never the design of Heaven. The time likewise at which the Continent was discovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled, encreases the force of it. The Reformation was preceded by the discovery of America: As if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety.
As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may bequeath to posterity: And by a plain method of argument, as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully.
In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will present a prospect which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from our sight. Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offence, yet I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse the doctrine of reconciliation, may be included within the following descriptions.
Interested men, who are not to be trusted, weak men who cannot see, prejudiced men who will not see, and a certain set of moderate men who think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this Continent than all the other three.
It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of present sorrow; the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel the precariousness with which all American property is possessed. But let our imaginations transport us a few moments to Boston; that seat of wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us for ever to renounce a power in whom we can have no trust.
The inhabitants of that unfortunate city who but a few months ago were in ease and affluence, have now no other alternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. Endangered by the fire of their friends if they continue within the city, and plundered by the soldiery if they leave it, in their present situation they are prisoners without the hope of redemption, and in a general attack for their relief they would be exposed to the fury of both armies.
Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offences of Great Britain, and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out, Come, come, we shall be friends again for all this. But examine the passions and feelings of mankind: bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the touchstone of nature, and then tell me whether you can hereafter love, honour, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land?
If you cannot do all these, then are you only deceiving yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon posterity. Your future connection with Britain, whom you can neither love nor honour, will be forced and unnatural, and being formed only on the plan of present convenience, will in a little time fall into a relapse more wretched than the first. But if you say, you can still pass the violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt?
Hath your property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then are you unworthy the name of husband, father, friend, or lover, and whatever may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward, and the spirit of a sycophant.
This is not inflaming or exaggerating matters, but trying them by those feelings and affections which nature justifies, and without which we should be incapable of discharging the social duties of life, or enjoying the felicities of it. I mean not to exhibit horror for the purpose of provoking revenge, but to awaken us from fatal and unmanly slumbers, that we may pursue determinately some fixed object.
The present winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if lost or neglected the whole Continent will partake of the misfortune; and there is no punishment which that man doth not deserve, be he who, or what, or where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season so precious and useful.
The most sanguine in Britain doth not think so. Reconciliation is now a fallacious dream. Nature hath deserted the connection, and art cannot supply her place. Every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual. Our prayers have been rejected with disdain; and hath tended to convince us that nothing flatters vanity or confirms obstinacy in Kings more than repeated petitioning—and nothing hath contributed more than that very measure to make the Kings of Europe absolute.
Witness Denmark and Sweden. To say they will never attempt it again is idle and visionary; we thought so at the repeal of the stamp act, yet a year or two undeceived us; as well may we suppose that nations which have been once defeated will never renew the quarrel.
To be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an answer, which, when obtained, requires five or six more to explain it in, will in a few years be looked upon as folly and childishness.
There was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time for it to cease. Small islands not capable of protecting themselves are the proper objects for government 1 to take under their care; but there is something absurd, in supposing a Continent to be perpetually governed by an island. In no instance hath nature made the satellite larger than its primary planet; and as England and America, with respect to each other, reverse the common order of nature, it is evident that they belong to different systems.
England to Europe: America to itself. I am not induced by motives of pride, party, or resentment to espouse the doctrine of separation and independence; I am clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuaded that it is the true interest of this Continent to be so; that every thing short of that is mere patchwork, that it can afford no lasting felicity,—that it is leaving the sword to our children, and shrinking back at a time when a little more, a little further, would have rendered this Continent the glory of the earth.
As Britain hath not manifested the least inclination towards a compromise, we may be assured that no terms can be obtained worthy the acceptance of the Continent, or any ways equal to the expence of blood and treasure we have been already put to.
The object contended for, ought always to bear some just proportion to the expense. The removal of North, or the whole detestable junto, is a matter unworthy the millions we have expended. As I have always considered the independancy of this continent, as an event which sooner or later must arrive, so from the late rapid progress of the Continent to maturity, the event cannot be far off.
Wherefore, on the breaking out of hostilities, it was not worth the while to have disputed a matter which time would have finally redressed, unless we meant to be in earnest: otherwise it is like wasting an estate on a suit at law, to regulate the trespasses of a tenant whose lease is just expiring. No man was a warmer wisher for a reconciliation than myself, before the fatal nineteenth of April, , but the moment the event of that day was made known, I rejected the hardened, sullen-tempered Pharaoh of England for ever; and disdain the wretch, that with the pretended title of FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul.
But admitting that matters were now made up, what would be the event? I answer, the ruin of the Continent. And that for several reasons. The powers of governing still remaining in the hands of the King, he will have a negative over the whole legislation of this Continent. And as he hath shown himself such an inveterate enemy to liberty, and discovered such a thirst for arbitrary power, is he, or is he not, a proper person to say to these colonies, You shall make no laws but what I please!?
And is there any inhabitant of America so ignorant as not to know, that according to what is called the present constitution, this Continent can make no laws but what the king gives leave to; and is there any man so unwise as not to see, that considering what has happened he will suffer no law to be made here but such as suits his purpose?
We may be as effectually enslaved by the want of laws in America, as by submitting to laws made for us in England. After matters are made up as it is called can there be any doubt, but the whole power of the crown will be exerted to keep this continent as low and humble as possible?
Instead of going forward we shall go backward, or be perpetually quarrelling, or ridiculously petitioning. We are already greater than the King wishes us to be, and will he not hereafter endeavor to make us less?
To bring the matter to one point, Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? Whoever says No, to this question, is an Independant for independency means no more than this, whether we shall make our own laws, or, whether the King, the greatest enemy this continent hath, or can have, shall tell us there shall be no laws but such as I like.
But the King, you will say, has a negative in England; the people there can make no laws without his consent.
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