Thomas Paines Common Sense

“In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense..”-- words that left a mark of the US and was a point of no return in the struggle for independence from Europe. Thomas Paine, the author of a once anonymous pamphlet published in January of 1776, is singled out as America’s true logical creator. Using clever methods to grasp his audience, Paine successfully dug deep into the minds and hearts of those who feared what leaving the rule of the King, or even a subtle attempt would bring. Common Sense confronted the power of the British government and the noble kingdom. The simple language that Paine used called out to the American public and was the first written work to openly request independence from Great Britain. In his eyes, a monarchy was not the voice of the people nor was it a step towards “real independence”—in less than a years’ time, many would have the same perception.

Paine infused the idea religion into his piece, “..exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty as declared by Gideon, and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by Kings.” At this point in time, the great majority of the inhabitants of America were of protestant denominations and of Catholicism beliefs. Strong morality is the basis of a solid religious relationship, and he demoralizes the king, who Paine compares to the leader of a “restless gang” whose violence eventually led him to be dreaded by those around him. Thomas Paine insulted the kingdom when stating that “one honest man to society and in the sight of God” is worth more “than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived." Paine argued that "For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others forever" and he strived for a citizen elected