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Summary Of Common Sense By Thomas Paine

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The American Revolution occurred in a period littered with anti-monarchial thoughts, revelations into areas of science and religion, and when other governments were reevaluating their long held positions on the perfect type of government. Even as America pulled away from Britain and became its own sovereign state, the French Revolution loomed in the horizon. One of the greatest catalysts for this period of change was the spread of propaganda and a movement led by scholars and revolutionists. One heavily inflammatory piece which would spread like wildfire across the colonies which would become the United States of America was Common Sense by Thomas Paine. In his seminal piece, Paine creates an argument through contradictions between the simple …show more content…

After he has given facts about the subject of the monarchy and its relationship to the United States, Paine makes arguments that the monarchy is something which should be taken as a detrimental force in the United States as it separates the people. After using religion and “common sense”, Paine points out that there “is another and greater distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is, the distinction of men into kings and subjects” (Paine, 10). As the reader looks through the pamphlet again, the supposedly informative nature would have stirred questions in their minds over the validity of the monarchy. Questions would arise such as “Why is there a king?” and “Why have I no power in the government?” Then, the true argument of Common Sense becomes clear to the reader. Monarchial control over the United States needs to be abolished. The United States needs to be able to grow and prosper on its own and “nothing but independence, i.e., a continental form of government, can keep the peace of the continent and preserve it inviolate from civil wars” (Paine, 13). The final argument was woven in and out of the piece, with bits and pieces of fact laid out like bread crumbs for the reader to follow and digest slowly and in order. The argument becomes clearer once the reader is “full” of these crumbs, and Paine’s piece was written in a way that the reader believes it is their own conclusion that the now

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