Common Sense

Thomas Paine, 1776

In January 1776 thomas paine published his fifty-page pamphlet Common Sense. It called for political independence and the establishment of a republican government. The pamphlet created a sensation, as much for its passionate rhetoric as for its political views. It sold more than 500,000 copies within a few months and is credited with creating the political momentum that led to the issuance of the declaration of independence on July 4, 1776.

In Common Sense, Paine turned his vitriol on King George III and the institution of the monarchy, calling the king a "royal brute" and a "crowned ruffian." Insisting that people did not have to live under such a regime, he declared "that in America the law is king."

Common Sense

This is supposing the present race of kings in the world to have had an honorable origin; whereas it is more than probable, that, could we take off the dark covering of antiquity and trace them to their first rise, we should find the first of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of some restless gang; whose savage manners or preeminence in subtility obtained him the title of chief among plunderers: and who by increasing in power and extending his depredations, overawed the quiet and defenceless to purchase their safety by frequent contributions.…

England since the conquest hath known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones; yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A French bastard landing with an armed banditti and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it. However it is needless to spend much time in exposing the folly of herditary rights: if there were any so weak as to believe it, let them promiscuously worship the ass and the lion, and welcome. I shall neither copy their humility, nor disturb their devotion….The plain truth is, that the antiquity of English monarchy will not bear looking into.

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.

Selections from Common Sense by Thomas Paine.

But where, say some, is the king of America? I'll tell you, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Great Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the Word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is.

Common Sense (1776), Revolutionary Era pamphlet.American independence had not yet been publicly discussed when on 10 January 1776 the Philadelphia printer Robert Bell published a forty‐seven–page pamphlet whose title page only hinted at its explosive contents: COMMON SENSE: addressed to the inhabitants of AMERICA, on the following interesting subjects: I. Of the Origin and Design of Government in general, with concise Remarks on the English Constitution. II. Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession. III. Thoughts on the present State of American Affairs. IV. Of the present ability of America. Ominously, the epithet proclaimed: “Man knows no Master save creating Heaven, or those whom choice and common Good ordain.” The author, Thomas Paine, had only recently immigrated from England and initially remained anonymous. An expanded second edition went through at least thirteen printings; total sales, estimated at 150,000 copies within three months, eventually reached half a million. A German translation was published in February by the Philadelphia printers Melchior Steiner and Carl Cist. This wide distribution, together with newspaper excerpts, made Common Sense the single most influential pamphlet of the Revolutionary War.

In rousing agitator's rhetoric, Paine dispelled as a myth the “balanced,” liberty‐protecting character of the British constitution. Hereditary monarchy and aristocracy were absurd, Paine argued, and irreconcilable with the natural equality of human beings. The colonists could not seriously hope for a permanent reconciliation with “the Royal brute of Britain.” The day had arrived for them to declare their independence. Paine did not specify how the future republican American government should be organized, nor did he advocate social leveling. He argued only that Americans had good reason and the material resources to assert their independence, if only they would join in support of “the rights of mankind and of the FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA.” Public and private reaction to Common Sense was overwhelming. The taboo had been broken, and debate did not cease until independence was declared.
See also Revolution and Constitution, Era of; Republicanism.

Bibliography

Gregory Claeys , Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought, 1989.
Thomas Paine , Collected Writings, ed. Eric Foner, 1995.

Willi Paul Adams

Common Sense, pamphlet by Thomas Paine, published anonymously at Philadelphia (Jan. 10, 1776). At a time of rising passion against the British government, the work was the first unqualified argument for complete political independence, and helped turn colonial thought in the direction that, six months later, culminated in the Declaration of Independence. Over 100,000 copies were sold by the end of March, and it is generally considered the most important literary influence on the movement for independence.

The argument is presented in four parts entitled: “Of the Origin and Design of Government in General; with Concise Remarks on the English Constitution”; “Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession”; “Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs”; and “Of the Present Ability of America….” The most cogent points of the closely reasoned discussion may be summarized in these extracts:
Here then is the origin and rise of government; namely, a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world; here too is the design and end of government, viz. freedom and security…. Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived…. We have boasted the protection of Great Britain, without considering, that her motive was interest not attachment…. I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single advantage that this continent can reap by being connected with Great Britain…. Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for buy them where we will…. Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of Nature cries, 'tis time to part…. The republican form of government is the best because it is founded on the most natural principles…. 'Tis not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies; yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force of all the world.

Common Sense a pamphlet written in America by Englishman Thomas Paine, published on January 10, 1776. It called for American independence and a union of the American colonies, and as propaganda, it influenced colonists to pursue both in the Revolutionary War. Paine's “Crisis” papers, issued from 1776 to 1783, were each signed “Common Sense.”

Common Sense (1932–46), monthly liberal review of political, economic, and social affairs, whose contributors included Dos Passos, MacLeish, Upton Sinclair, Norman Thomas, Louis Adamic, John Dewey, and Max Eastman. In 1946 it was absorbed by the American Mercury.

com·mon sense • n. good sense and sound judgment in practical matters: use your common sense| [as adj.] a common-sense approach. DERIVATIVES: com·mon·sen·si·cal / ˌkämənˈsensikəl/ adj.

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