Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Who read it?

1 in every 5 Americans read it or heard it read. George Washington read it to his troops.

Notice how Paine weaves impassioned questions through the paragraph 77: "Are you only deceiving yourselves?" "Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands?" How do these questions intensify his challenges?

Addressed to "you" directly and not a faceless "he or they," the questions deliver an in-your-face challenge that allows no escape. Here's my question to you: Answer it! or your silence will reveal your cowardice.

In paragraph 60, Paine compares the goal of reconciliation to an "agreeable dream [that has] passed away and left us as we were." Why doesn't he aim harsher criticism here at the goal of reconciling with Britain?

Paine begins his argument against reconciliation and does not want to insult or alienate his readers at the outset. Everyone can hope, he implies: there's nothing wrong with that, but we have to move on if a hope proves fruitless.

Paine includes multiple repetitions in this paragraph 59. What word repetition is found?

The adjective "new" in a "new area" and a "new method." [anaphora]

What does the metaphor in paragraph 79 mean: "Reconciliation is now a fallacious dream."

illusion, vain hope

PARAGRAPH 58: The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. 'Tis not the affair of a city, a country, a province, or a kingdom, but of a continent - of at least one eighth part of the habitable globe. 'Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest and will be more or less affected, even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. Now is the seed time of continental [colonies'] union, faith and honor. 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 will enlarge with the tree, and posterity read it in full grown characters.

important parts: a continent. . .posterity for all times

What does the metaphor in paragraph 163 mean: "Independence is the only BOND that can tie and keep us together."

tying cord, unity for surivial

precariousness

uncertainty, instability; dependence on chance circumstances or unknown conditions

Why does he write "I offer nothing more" instead of "I offer you many reasons" or "I offer a detailed argument"?

"Nothing more" implies that Common Sense will be easy to follow, presenting only what is necessary to make his argument. (Paine considered titling his essay Plain Truth.) Paragraph 55.

In paragraph 61, Paine follows his utter rejection of the argument with an analogy. Complete the analogy: America staying with Britain would be like a child _______.

'remaining dependent on its parents forever and never growing up." And who would want that, Paine implies? By writing "first twenty years of our lives" instead of, say, "first five years," Paine alludes to the general consensus that a twenty-year-old is an adult.

Paragraph 58 begins with one of the most famous hyperboles in American writing. A hyperbole is an overstatement or exaggeration to emphasize a point. What are the two examples of hyperbole in this paragraph?

1. "the sun never shined on a cause of greater worth" 2. "posterity... will be more or less affected, even to the end of time"

Four sections in Common Sense, excluding the Introduction

1. Introduction 2. Section One 3. Section Two 4. Section Three 5. Section Four

In paragraph 58, what tone does Paine add with the phrases "The sun never shined" and "even to the end of time"?

A biblical and prophetic tone. The sun shining down on human endeavors suggests divine endorsement of the American cause — a cause that will bring light and freedom ("salvation") to the world. Resisting the cause, Paine implies, would be resisting divine will.

In paragraphs 104 & 107, Paine pleads with his readers to write the constitution for their independent nation without delay. What danger do they risk, he warns, if they leave this crucial task to a later day?

A colonial leader could grasp dictatorial power by taking advantage of the postwar disorder likely to result if the colonies have no constitution ready to implement. Even if Britain tried to regain control of the colonies, it could be too late to wrest control back from a powerful dictator. "Ye are opening a door to eternal tyranny," Paine warns, "by keeping vacant the seat of government."

When read aloud, what impact does the repetition in paragraph 59 add to Paine's delivery?

A stirring oratorical rhythm is achieved, like that of a solemn speech or sermon meant to convey the truth and gravity of an argument.

Why is anaphora so effective?

It helps lead the reader to a climax of the speech/writing. It is often used by politicians because it plays on emotion and rhythm. It's like the drum and fife leading the infantry. It sets a drum beat for the written beat leading the reader to the finale.

In paragraph 77, paraphrase the first challenge (sentences 2-5).

Ask yourself if you can remain loyal to a nation that has brought war and suffering to you. If you say you can, you're fooling yourself and condemning us to a worse life under Britain than we suffer now.

How does Paine ask you to prepare yourself for his "common sense" arguments?

Be willing to put aside pre-conceived notions, he says, and judge his arguments on their own merits. paragraph 55.

What was different about Paine's writing?

Before his essays, educated men like Franklin wrote civilly. Paine wrote with emotion and fury. Paine cursed Britain as an "open enemy," denouncing George III as the "Royal Brute of England," and damning reconciliation as "truly farcical" and "a fallacious dream." To think otherwise, Paine said, was "absurd," "unmanly," and "repugnant to reason."

PARAGRAPH 55: 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 [rid] himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer [permit] 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.

Common sense used

In paragraph 60, Paine promises a fair appraisal How does Paine describe the two options in the last sentence. Option 1: "if separated" from Britain Option 2: "if dependent on Britain" Why didn't he use the usual terms for the two options — "independence" and "reconciliation"?

First, INDEPENDENCE and RECONCILIATION sound like equally plausible options, but Paine wants to convince the reader that independence is the only acceptable option. If so, then why did he choose SEPARATION instead of INDEPENDENCE? By January 1776, INDEPENDENCE carried the drastic connotations of war and treason. It was an irrevocable decision with unknown consequences. In contrast, SEPARATION seems less drastic, and even positive. In human development, separation from one's parents is the natural and long-sought step to full adulthood. That's the self-image Paine wants to foster in his readers. Are we adults or children? Paine chose DEPENDENCE instead of RECONCILIATION for Option 2 (staying with Britain). RECONCILIATION suggests the calm and rational agreement of two grownups, but Paine wants the reader to view reconciliation as the defeatist choice of spineless subjects who could never take care of themselves. In other words, DEPENDENCE. [Note: Paine does call the two options "independence" and "reconciliation" elsewhere in Common Sense, but he meant to avoid them here.]

January 1776

Fort Ticonderoga captured Boston besieged New York City fortified invaded Canada No longer fighting for self-defense, or protection of their property, or to force Britain to negotiate. They were fighting for independence.

Common Sense was written as an ultimatum. . .

Give up reconciliation now, or forever lose the chance for independence. "If we fail to act, we're self-deceiving cowards condemning our children to tyranny and cheating the world of a beacon of liberty. It is our calling to model self-actualized nationhood for the world. The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind."

In paragraph 77, paraphrase the second challenge (sentences 6-11).

Have you been the victim of British violence? If you haven't, then you still owe compassion to those who have. And if you have, yet still support reconciliation, then you have abandoned your conscience.

In paragraph 61, Paine goes one step further in the last sentence. What does he say about America's "childhood" as a British colony?

He "answers roundly" (with conviction) that the colonies' growth was actually hampered by being part of a European empire. They would have been more healthy and successful "adults," he insists, if they had not been the "children" of the British empire. This was a radical premise in 1776, but one that buttressed Paine's argument for independence.

In paragraph 55, imagine sitting down to read Common Sense in January 1776. How does Paine introduce reasoning to you?

He announces that his logic will be direct and down to earth, using only "simple facts" and "plain arguments" to explain his position, unlike (he implies) the complex political pamphlets addressed to the educated elite. His audience would understand "common sense" to suggest the moral sense of the yeoman farmer, whose independence and clear-headedness made him a more reliable guardian of national virtue (similar to Jefferson's agrarian ideal).

What was Paine's tone?

He argued with ideas while convincing with raw emotion.

What does he imply by saying a fair reader "will put on, or rather than he will not put off, the true character of a man"?

He implies that any reader who would refuse to consider his arguments is narrow-minded. With the "on"-"off" contrast, he suggests that you, the individual reader, are open-minded and thus a fellow man of honor willing to consider a new point of view. Paragraph 55.

Paine is a wordsmith. How does he use repetition to add impact to the first part of the paragraph 58?

He includes two repetitive sets: 1. "'Tis not" to begin sentences 2 and 3 [anaphora] 2. the phrases "of a city, a country, a province, or a kingdom" and "of a day, a year, or an age" [prepositions with multiple objects]. Read the section aloud to hear the insistent rhythm that elevates Paine's prose to a rousing call to action (his goal in writing Common Sense).

In paragraph 59, Paine compares the attempts to reconcile with Britain after the Battle of Lexington and Concord to an old almanac. What does he mean?

He means the idea of reconciliation is now preposterous and that no rational person could support it. No one would use last year's almanac to make plans for the current year! Also, as an almanac ceases to be useful at a specific moment (midnight of December 31), Paine implies that reconciliation ceased to be a valid goal at the moment of the first shot on April 19, 1775. (Paine often alludes to aspects of colonial life, like almanacs, that would resonate with all readers. They include references to farming, tree cutting, hunting, land ownership, slavery, biblical scripture, family and neighbor bonds, maturation, and the parent-child relationship.

At the start of paragraph 77, Paine mildly faults the supporters of reconciliation as unrealistic optimists "still hoping for the best." By the end of the paragraph, however, they are cowards willing to "shake hands with the murderers." How did he construct the paragraph to accomplish this transition?

He poses two challenges to the supporters of reconciliation. If they can honestly answer each challenge, he asserts, and still support reconciliation, then they are selfish cowards bringing ruin to America.

In paragraph 61, Paine rebuts the first argument for reconciliation—that America has thrived as a British colony and would fail on her own. How does he dismiss this argument?

He slams it down hard. "NOTHING can be more FALLACIOUS," he yells. The argument is beyond misdirected or short-sighted, he insists; it's a fatal error in reasoning. So much for calm and reasoned debate. But Paine is not having a temper tantrum in print. His technique was to argue with ideas while convincing with emotion.

In paragraphs 104 & 107, what historical evidence does Paine offer to illustrate the danger?

He states that "some Massanello may hereafter arise" and grasp power, alluding to the short-lived people's revolt led by the commoner Thomas Aniello (Masaniello) in 1647 against Spanish control of Naples (Italy). The Spanish ruler granted a few rights, but Masaniello was soon murdered, ending the uprising and its short-lived gains for the people.

Who was Paine's audience?

His intended audience was the American mob. He uses anger, the natural emotion of the mob.

Besides metaphors, Paine uses the literary device anaphora. What is it?

In writing or speech, the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect,

Timing of Common Sense

John Adams wrote, "Common Sense appeared like a 'meteor' and propelled many to support independence."

What does the metaphor in paragraph 58 mean: "The sun never shines on a cause of greater worth."

Light, newness, glory

Section One

Man may need government to protect him from his flawed nature, but that doesn't mean he must suffocate under brute tyranny.

Did people know who wrote Common Sense?

No. It was originally written anonymously.The large quantity of newspapers and pamphlets the Framers produced during the various crises of their generation show the extent to which the Framers relied upon anonymity. During the break with Great Britain, the revolutionaries employed pseudonyms both to conceal their identity from Crown authorities and to impart a message. Often, writers would choose names to signal their point of view or to invoke specific classical and modern "crusaders in an age long struggle against tyranny." Thus, leaders of the struggle for independence would adopt descriptive names such as [514 U.S. 334, 344] "Common Sense," a "Farmer," or "A True Patriot," or historical ones such as "Cato" (a name used by many to refer to the Roman Cato and to Cato's letters), or "Mucius Scaevola." Id., at xii-xiii. The practice was even more prevalent during the great outpouring of political argument and commentary that accompanied the ratification of the Constitution. Besides "Publius," prominent Federalists signed their articles and pamphlets with names such as "An American Citizen," "Marcus," "A Landholder," "Americanus"; Anti-Federalists replied with the pseudonyms "Cato," "Centinel," "Brutus," the "Federal Farmer," and "The Impartial Examiner." See generally 1-2 Debate on the Constitution (B. Bailyn ed. 1993). The practice of publishing one's thoughts anonymously or under pseudonym was so widespread that only two major Federalist or Anti-Federalist pieces appear to have been signed by their true authors, and they may have had special reasons to do so.[3]

In paragraph 60, How does his tone prepare the resistant reader?

Paine means to deflect challenges of bias or extremism by inviting readers to give him a hearing. "If I'm being fair in my writing, you can try to be fair in your listening."

PARAGRAPH 61: I have heard it asserted by some that as America hath flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, that 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 had anything to do with her.

Parent-child metaphor that everyone understands.

Introduction

Readers must clear their minds of long-held notions, apply common sense, and adopt the cause of America as the "cause of all mankind." How we respond to tyranny today will matter for all time.

With this in mind, in paragraph 60 what tone does Paine lead the reader to expect: cynical, impatient, hopeful, reasonable, impassioned, angry?

Reasonable. The two sentences resemble the opening of a legal argument that promises a balanced appraisal of two options on the basis of known evidence ("principles of nature") and honest ordinary reasoning ("common sense").

PARAGRAPH 60: 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 [opposing] side of the argument and inquire into some of the many material injuries which these colonies sustain, and always will sustain, by being connected with and dependent on Great Britain. To examine that connection and dependence, on the principles of nature and common sense, to see what we have to trust to [expect] if separated, and what we are to expect if dependent.

Reconciliation is no longer possible

Section Three

Reconciliation means ruin. We're already at war.

Why did Paine believe it was necessary to be bold?

Some people can be reasoned into sense, and others must be shocked into it. Say a bold thing that will stagger them, and they will begin to think.

PARAGRAPH 77: Men of passive tempers [temperaments] look somewhat lightly over the offenses of 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, honor, 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 honor, 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 [ignore or underrate them], then I ask, Hath your house been burnt? Hath your property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children destitute of [without] 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.

Staying under British rule is against the laws of nature.

In paragraph 77, Paine challenges his opponents to bring "reconciliation to the touchstone of nature." What does he mean? (A "touchstone" is a test of the quality or genuineness of something. From ancient times the purity of gold or silver was tested with a "touchstone" of basalt stone.)

Test the chances of reconciliation against what you know about people's reactions in similar crises throughout history, not against your own hopes and fears during this particular crisis. In other words, use common sense.

Section Two

The monarchy is not our protector. It's our enemy. It has brought misery to people all over the world. Why should someone rule over us simply because he/she is someone's child?

In paragraph 77, rewrite sentences #4 and #11 to change the second-person "you" to the third-person "he/she/they." How does the change weaken Paine's challenges?

The reader is off the hook. Since the challenges are deflected from "you," the reader, to the third-person "other," no immediate personal reply is demanded. The reader can blithely read on and avoid the aim of Paine's questions.

In paragraph 77, with what phrase does Paine condemn those who would still hope for reconciliation even if they were victims of British violence?

They are men who "can still shake hands with the murderers," i.e., men who have betrayed their fellow Americans and thus become as evil as the British invaders. There is no nuance in this condemnation, and thus no way for the reader to avoid its implications.

In paragraphs 104 & 107, Paine heightens his apocalyptic tone as he appeals to "ye that love mankind" to accept a mission of salvation (alluding to Christ's mission of salvation). What must the lovers of mankind achieve in order to save mankind?

They must establish the "free and independent States of America" as the sole preserve of human freedom in the world. A desperate fugitive, "freedom" has been "hunted" and "expelled" throughout the world, and it is America's mission to protect and nurture her. America's victory will be mankind's victory, not just the feat of thirteen small colonies in a distant corner of the world. NOTE: "A government of our own is our natural right" asserts Paine at the beginning of this excerpt. Six months later Thomas Jefferson asserted the same right in the opening of the Declaration of Independence. This Enlightenment ideal anchored revolutionary initiatives in America and Europe for decades.

Paine ends paragraph 58 with an analogy: What we do now is like carving initials into the bark of a young oak tree. What does he mean with the analogy?

This is the time to unite for independence. Discord among us now will escalate into future crises that could ruin the young nation.

PARAGRAPHS 104 & 107 A government of our own is our natural right, and when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced that it is infinitely wiser and safer to form a constitution of our own in a cool deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to time and chance. If we omit it now, some Massanello* may hereafter arise who, laying hold of popular disquietudes [grievances], may collect together the desperate and the discontented, and by assuming to themselves the powers of government, finally sweep away the liberties of the continent like a deluge. Should the government of America return again into the hands of Britain, the tottering situation of things will be a temptation for some desperate adventurer to try his fortune; and in such a case, what relief can Britain give? Ere [before] she could hear the news, the fatal business might be done, and ourselves suffering like the wretched Britons under the oppression of the Conqueror [William the Conqueror in 1066]. Ye that oppose independence now, ye know not what ye do. Ye are opening a door to eternal tyranny by keeping vacant the seat of government.... 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.

To govern ourselves is natural.

With the hyperboles in paragraph 58, how does Paine lead you to view the "cause" of American independence?

View it, he says, from an overarching global perspective, not the narrow perspective of American colonists in the late 1700s. The hyperboles are ultimates — the most worthy of worthy causes, affecting the future now and forever. The American cause can lead mankind toward enlightened self-determination, driving forward the progress of civilization. Paine says this directly in his introduction: "The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind." We're not just talking taxes and representation, people.

Section Four

We have an army. Build a navy. The prospect of inaction is terrifying.

PARAGRAPH 59: By referring the matter from argument to arms, a new area for politics is struck; a new method of thinking hath arisen. All plans, proposals, etc., prior to the nineteenth of April, i.e., to the commencement of hostilities [Lexington and Concord], are like the almanacs of the last year which, though proper [accurate] then, are superseded and useless now. Whatever was advanced by the advocates on either side of the question then, terminated in one and the same point, viz. [that is], a union with Great Britain. The only difference between the parties was the method of effecting it — the one proposing force, the other friendship; but it hath so far happened that the first hath failed and the second hath withdrawn her influence.

Whether you realize it or not, the war has already begun and there is only one course of action.

In paragraphs 104 & 107, as Paines's plea escalates in intensity, he exclaims "Ye that oppose independence now, ye know not what ye do." To what climactic moment in the New Testament does he allude?

While suffering on the cross before his death, Jesus calls out, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23: 34); that is, his crucifiers do not know they are killing the Son of God. With this compelling allusion (which most readers would instantly recognize), Paine warns that opposing independence is as calamitous a decision for Americans as killing Jesus was for his executioners and for mankind.

Instrumental in turning the tide to what?

Within weeks, reconciliation with Britain had gone from an honorable goal to a cowardly betrayal, while independence became the rallying cry of united Patriots.

deluge

a cataclysmic flood

relapse

a return to a previous worse condition after a period of improvement

What does the metaphor in paragraph 144 mean: "It is now in the interest of America to provide for herself."

adulthood, self-reliance

posterity

all future generations of mankind

What sound repetitions are in paragraph 59?

alliteration: Argument/Arms/Area/Arisen Plans/Proposals/Prior/APril Consonance: politiCs/struCK meTHod/THinking/haTH Matter/arguMent/arMs

precedent

an action or policy that serves as an example or rule for the future

Common Sense is a masterful piece of _______and _________.

argument rhetoric

touchstone

as a metaphor, a test of the quality or genuineness of something (in the past, the purity of gold or silver was tested with a "touchstone" of basalt.)

Common Sense was a fevered no-holds barred call for _________.

independence

What does the metaphor in paragraph 73 mean: "The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries 'TIS TIME TO PART.'"

massacre, suffering

Common Sense appeared as a _____ for sale in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776.

pamphlet

superseded

replaced something old or no longer useful

sycophant

someone who acts submissively to another in power in order to gain advantage; yes-man, flatterer, bootlicker, toady

Paine's pen was his ________, and words his _________.

weapon ammunition