Of The Origin And Design Of Government By Thomas Paine Summary

CONTEXT During the American Revolution, the colonists suffered from many things. The biggest challenge they faced was Great Britain. The colonists were receiving unfair treatment and taxation in order to pay off expenses that had accumulated for Britain. The colonists did not like this so they retaliated, but Britain only punished them worse in order to keep them in check. Many of the colonists did not want to pay taxes, however, there was a few that were still loyal to the motherland. The colonists were divided into two, the ones that opposed Britain, and the ones that saw nothing was wrong.

SYNOPSIS

Thomas Paine, the well-known philosopher, and author at the time wrote and published one of the most influential pamphlets of American

Each section consisted of different ideologies that were used to persuade the people of the thirteen colonies that by using common sense, they could free themselves from Britain’s power. In the introduction of the pamphlet, Paine introduces ideas of independence and gives a warning to the audience. He essentially tells the people to apply common sense to the idea of becoming independent. The first section after the introduction was titled “Of the Origin and Design of Government in general, with concise Remarks of the English Constitution”. In this section, Paine describes how it is essential to have a government in order to have a functional society. He emphasizes for the people to avoid an oppressive government. In the second section “Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession,” Paine argues that people are equal. He questions if people are equal why should a king be determined by his family. “In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throw mankind into confusion.” (Common Sense) He mentions that having a king only causes conflict. In

After the Boston tea party and the battle of Lexington and Concord, Paine saw the colonies be fit to fight the motherland and become independent from it. He publicized the pamphlet Common Sense as a message to persuade the colonist that they need to become independent. He did this by using “nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense”. (Common Sense) The pamphlet successfully impacted the minds of many of the colonists not just in Philadelphia, but all across the thirteen colonies. Word of the pamphlet got around and even people in Britain were starting to read it. The main intent of the pamphlet was to essentially enlightened and persuade many of the colonists that were still unsure of what side they wanted to be in, and it succeeded. It successfully changed the minds of many colonists simply arguing what was on everyone’s mind;