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Thomas Paine Argument For Colonial American Independence

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Thomas Paine uses his pamphlet, Common Sense, to bring the American people together in a debate over independence against the enemy, England and their tyranny of the royals. Paine uses a simple language and properly attacks the King of England to give the people a better understanding on how a monarchy is effecting their societies. He states that the people give no distinction between a society and a government but the government is where the real evil is.
To give the American people a better understanding of the government he explains a scenario that involve a few people placed on an island, better known as America. The select people that are left on this colony are cut off from humanity and soon find themselves interacting with one another …show more content…

The two major points are receiving full independence from Britain and the creation of a democracy. Paine believes that receiving independence from Britain will give America hope from falling under complete tyranny and absolute power from a King. He believes that this is the only way for America to move forward. “SOME writes have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins” (Of the Origin and Design of Government in General). In this section of Common Sense, Paine states that people confuse the concept of their society with a government. A government is only in place to force a punishment if someone were to misbehave. Paine believes that the government is a necessary evil and that it needs to focus on the issues of the people as a whole. England’s government does not show this prejudice towards the common people because the sole decision maker is the King which leads to the next point Paine covers. The American colonies should adapt a democratic republic because the opinions of the people would be expressed in a timelier manner. “Let the assemblies be annual, with a President only. The representation more equal. Their business wholly domestic, and subject to the authority of a Continental Congress” (Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs). Paine is certain that the American colonies can avoid conflict internally if they establish a government that allows each state to represent themselves and the people

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