Thomas Paine Common Sense Analysis

Thomas Paine claims in Common Sense that the people living in America do not need to tolerate the oppression from their British overlords. His main purpose for writing this pamphlet was to expose the injustice of the British towards the Americans and to persuade those who still believed that the British were either needed or were beneficial for the Americans in 1776. Paine values the idea that the Americans need to revolt against their evil ,oppressive, monarchical rulers in Britain and to establish pure democracy in the Thirteen Colonies. Paine writes from the perspective of an equal to his fellow American man, thus making him relatable from common folk to the wealthy merchants and upper classes. Paine shows the British tyranny over America as horrific and he wishes to expose British faults and impurities to inspire the colonists

During the late 1700's, the colonies and their mother country, Great Britain, were butting heads with immense taxation and the unreasonable laws England placed on the colonies. Thomas Paine was a journalist at the time and published one of his famous works "Common Sense" in 1776. The pamphlet was intended to challenge the British government authority that was overruling the colonial power. The arguments Paine states in Common Sense became some of the deciding factors of the colonies breaking away from Great Britain.

In result of The Seven Years’ War Britain controlled American trade and territory. In order to pay for the expenses of the war several taxation acts and military presence were implemented such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Currency Act, Quartering Act and the presence of British troops at the colonies. Consequently, Americans who thought these actions violated their political and constitutional liberties opposed these policies with petitions, boycotts, and resistance strategies known as the Imperial Crisis. In January 1776 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was composed to convince Americans of the need for independence from British rule and establishment of democracy. This pamphlet

Scott Liell’s book 46 pages: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, and the Turning Point to Independence ultimately describes Thomas Paine’s life and showcases the struggles he went through and the outside forces that influenced him to write Common Sense. Liell’s book also expresses the importance of Common Sense, stating that it is the “single most influential political work in American history” (16). Paine was born and raised in England, in which the King and his monarchial rule would have evident influence in his later

With the initially anonymous release of the pamphlet, Common Sense, Thomas Paine proposed to challenge Great Britain, as well as advocate for independence from the British government's sovereignty over what was then the thirteen American colonies. With the objective of coercing the American people to fight against Great Britain in mind, Thomas Paine employed various rhetorical strategies. These rhetorical strategies included: inductive and deductive reasoning through logic; but some of Paine's most persuasive arguments come from emotionally charged appeals to action and various forms of logical fallacies, which Paine used in an effort to coerce and inspire his audience, the American public, to unite with each other in the much anticipated battle

Paine published his most known pamphlet, “Common Sense” on January 10th, 1776 (Kashatus). Paine’s main goal was to involve every single colonist in his revolutionary ideas. To accomplish this goal, Paine

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is a major document of American history written between 1775-76. In this, Paine argues for the independence of the colonies. He begins his argument with general reflections about government and religion. He then specifies issues that dealt with the colonies.

However, Paine combats all of these notions with well-thought-out, educated details that sway those arguments. For example, the idea of England increasing the profitability of America’s trade is addressed by Paine saying, “Our plan is commerce and that, well attended to, will secure us the peace and friendship of all Europe; because it is the interest of all Europe to have America a free port. Her trade will always be a protection and her barrenness of gold and silver secure her from invaders.” (Paine, 458). Paine’s use of the lack of the readers’ common knowledge allows for a compelling argument which would enlighten audiences.

In the year of 1776, emotions intensify in Colonial America creating an atmosphere prime for dissidence and a yearning for independence. The livid Americans, overtaxed and mistreated by the British after the French and Indian War, debate and argue amongst themselves about the fate of their fledgling colony. The American colonies interested in seeking independence from their motherland Britain, look abroad in hopes of finding moral and political reasons to justify revolution. In the pamphlet, Common Sense, Frenchman Thomas Paine conveys such reasons using rhetorical elements such as figurative language, rhetorical questions, and assertions in order to enhance the morale of the colonists and support the Americans in their revolution against Britain.

Common Sense was written when America was on its way to the American Revolution, but what made Paine write this masterpiece? Paine truly believed that in order to get the freedom they wanted, the thirteen colonies need to break off from England completely. Paine applied “simple common sense” in the pamphlet to show the people that the only way to protect their rights was to declare independence. His true inspiration was the fact that he really wanted to obtain freedom from England and everything that was going on around him helped him in writing this.

Thomas Paine was an England born political activist, theorist, philosopher and revolutionary. He was an influential writer of essays and pamphlets. His works included “The Age of Reason, “Rights of Man” and the widely known and well accepted “Common Sense”. He is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and had a major influence on the American Revolution by helping shape many of the ideas that marked the Age of Revolution. His extremely popular Common Sense pamphlet (which I will be discussing in this essay) was the first pamphlet to advocate for American Independence. Common Sense is the best-selling book in American history, a statistic that speaks to the power that the book held.

Thomas Paine was responsible for some of the most influential works of the revolution. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was a very crucial part to America and its movement of independence from Britain. Paine was effective with his writings by being very plain. He wanted both farmers and officials to understand what he was talking about and be able to comprehend his ideas. Paine wanted to put his ideas out to the people of the American colonies so that they could understand it just by reading and not have to analyze and decipher what he was really trying to get across. He wanted to let the colonist know that there was no more room for talking about a split from English rule but it was time for the colonies to unite and take up arms against their British oppressors.

Thomas Paine wrote secretly, yet spoke to the public on the occasion of him speaking out about his beliefs. The first pamphlet he published, persuading liberation from Britain, was called Common Sense. Paine believed that America needed to break free of the British controls. He was against

​Thomas Paine's Common Sense is a seminal piece of American literature and American history; arguably it's the most important piece. Paine wrote Common Sense in 1775-1776, and it's theme was to spread his political beliefs. He wanted American independence from the British monarchy. The pamphlet was anonymously released on January 10th, 1776, and it explained to the reader why the colonies needed to rebel against their British oppressors. It was sold far and wide across the colonies, and it was successful; it inspired many of the soldiers during the initial summer of rebellion in 1776. The whole idea of the pamphlet revolves around persuading the reader to side with the rebels in their valiant fight for independence, and he absolutely uses contemporary persuasive techniques in his writing. He uses facts about the present, he looks towards the future, and he uses religion to persuade his readers. In fact, it's a testament to how the act of persuasion has been very similar over the last 238

Paine's vehement use of schemes exposes the intertwined relationship between the government and the governed, as he interjects, "Interchange will establish a common interest with every part of the community, they will mutually and naturally support each other and on this…depends the strength of the government, and the happiness of the governed"(par. 2). This delicate, yet critical balance of the people versus the state is what this country has been about from the very beginning of it, a place where there will not be the acted upon, but those who act, a place where choice has become the most important part of life, the very center of life itself, affecting both individuals, communities, and this nation as a whole. This catching parallel structure is also used in the final paragraph as Paine expresses: "However our eyes may be dazzled with show, or our ears deceived by sound; however prejudice may warp our wills, or interest darken our understanding, the simple voice of nature and of reason will say, it is