Common Sense Summary and Review
analytical Essay
937 words
The immediate sensation of 1776, Common Sense, a pamphlet by Thomas Paine, had given the urge to many Americans at the time to fight for their independence. January, 10 1776, the pamphlet was published at around the begging of the American Revolution and had hit all of the colonies. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. Even George Washington had read it to all his troops, which at the time had surrounded the British army in Boston. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time (2.5 million), it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. Paine wrote this pamphlet into four sections: Of the Origin and Design of Government in General, with Concise Remarks on the English Constitution; Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession; Thoughts on Present State of American Affairs; On the Present Ability of America, with some Miscellaneous Reflections. Thomas Paine begins the first section of the pamphlet distinguishing the differences between society and government. “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.” In other words, Paine is saying that society is everything good of which the people accomplish together and government has its origins in the evil of man and is therefore a necessary evil at best. Paine says that government's main purpose is to protect life, liberty and property, and that a government should be judged to which it accomp... ... middle of paper ... ...his uprising and rebel against the British rule. These motives consisted of: No other country will be willing to help the colonists if America is seen as a part of Britain; both thriving countries, France and Spain will not aid the colonies if they believe that their help will be used by America to repair relations with England; other countries will see the colonies as enemies if they are still part of Britain; and by declaring independence, the colonies could begin to profit from international alliances and trade, of which Britain would not allow. Paine ends with a metaphor of the colonies if they do not take action immediately; “the Continent will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity.”
In this essay, the author
- Explains that common sense, a pamphlet by thomas paine, had given the urge to many americans at the time to fight for their independence. it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in american history.
- Analyzes how thomas paine distinguishes between society and government in the first section of the pamphlet.
- Analyzes how thomas paine concludes that monarchy has produced nothing in the world, but bad governance and bloodshed.
- Analyzes paine's third section, thoughts on present state of american affairs, which examines the conflicts between england and the colonies at the time, and decides independence is the best choice of action.
- Analyzes how paine tries to persuade readers that america is able to rebel against the british rule.
Related
- analytical
- comparative
- opinion
- Common Senseanalytical essay	The British Parliament has long been a bane to the colonists in the New World, with the passage of all their "acts" to tax us simply because we are more productive. Paine makes his contempt for the current system of government quite clear early on. "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for even we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamities is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer." (65) Paine clearly believes that the English government falls into the "intolerable" category of governments. Although a system of government is a required entity in almost any society, there are much better ways to govern a people besides the British monarchal system. Paine discusses how the Parliament is set up as a representation of the people, but what good is representation in a monarchy? The monarch still has absolute power, even though a system is set up to make it appear as though the people have a say. This lack of true representation instills a lack of trust towards the king in the British subjects. These factors create doubt in one’s mind about the strength of the British government. Paine questions the government saying:
In this essay, the author
- Explains common sense by thomas paine, with an introduction by isaac kramnic.
- Analyzes how paine's patriotic pamphlet, common sense, conveyed his message. he theorized a split between england and the colonial states.
- Analyzes how paine believes that the english government falls into the 'intolerable' category of governments.
- Explains that the constitution supposes such a power to exist.
- Explains that hereditary succession, as approved by the british constitution, is one of the greater evils of british government.
- Opines that the british are a huge economic bane on american colonists.
- Analyzes how paine believes it is time for a split between the two civilizations, and the thoughts of many others.
- Opines that a separation between england and america is crucial to the survival of america. paine calls for an immediate separation from the british.
1285 wordsRead More - Difference Between Common Sense And The Declaration Of Independencecomparative essayCommon Sense written by Thomas Paine in January of 1776, enlightened its readers and ignited the colonists towards the American Revolution. Common Sense was the first document that established a suggestion towards a constitutional form of government. The foundation of the main points in Common Sense were the upbringing of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson in July of 1776 approximately 7 months after Thomas Paine’s work of Common Sense. The Declaration of Independence stated the Americans freedom from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence was derived from Common Sense and due to this, they have various similarities. The similarities
In this essay, the author
- Compares common sense and the declaration of independence. both documents call for independence, patriotism, and government and society.
- Compares thomas paine's common sense and the declaration of independence by thomas jefferson. both documents called for the independence of the american colonies under the british crown.
- Compares the declaration of independence and common sense in terms of patriotism. jefferson's tone portrays how tiresome he has grown of the british rule after all the deception towards americans.
- Opines that government and society are similar, although they had different ideas on how to go about it.
- Concludes that both of these writers focus on how americans need to come together as one nation to separate themselves from the british in order to prosper.
979 wordsRead More - Colonial TImes and Independence in Common Sense by Thomas Paineanalytical essayCommon Sense written by Thomas Paine in 1776 was originally a pamphlet that argues America’s independence about reflections about the government, and religion. He also speaks of the colonial people situation. Paine wanted a new beginning where everyone had equal social rights and freedom.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that thomas paine's common sense was originally a pamphlet that argued america’s independence about reflections about the government, and religion.
- Analyzes how paine starts by expressing the difference between society and the government.
- Analyzes paine's belief that the government only purpose for existence is to judge based on property, liberty, and protect the lives of people. the republican ideology states that it is against the raise in centralized power.
- Analyzes how paine's argument is based on the republican ideology of protecting the local control. he gets people to think about the new government differently.
- Analyzes how paine's idea of the new government is equal representation. he suggested set times where everyone rules so it would be fair and standards of how laws are to be passed.
- Analyzes how paine's argument reflected a lot of the republican ideology and he believed the colonials could have government based off of it.
519 wordsRead More - Common Sense Pamphlet Analysisanalytical essayIn this paper we are going to look at Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet. We are going to try and understand why it was so important to be written then and how some, if any, of its importance still holds true in today’s world. Thomas Paine is attacking Britain and its rule on how we are to govern ourselves, even though they are miles upon miles away. He believes that we should depart from their rule and become our own entity, although we know that this is what happened he is trying to persuade those of his era to go forth with the act.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomas paine's "common sense" pamphlet was so important to be written then and how some, if any, of its importance still holds true today. he believes that we should depart from their rule and become our own entity.
- Analyzes paine's argument that society and government are very different. the former promotes happiness positively by uniting affections, while the latter creates distinctions.
485 wordsRead More - Exploring the Anthropological Principles in Paine´s Common Senseanalytical essayThomas Paine begins his article by first exploring the differences between society and government. He explains that, “society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.” (Frohnen 179) What he means by this is that to have society and community is a privilege, because we as humans are designed to have a need for human interaction, while government on the other hand is only a necessary evil, simply because we as humans are also designed to be inherently evil, and therefore government is a necessary evil to have in order to monitor wrongdoing, or to keep us from our own vices in other words. This emphasizes the Classical Christian Anthropological principle of duality, which is the inner struggle that we as humans have between amor sui, the love of self, and amor dei, the love of God. This struggle springs from the fact that evil is found within man, and we must mak...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the anthropological principles that underlie paine's argument in common sense and how he uses them to explore british rule over american government.
- Analyzes thomas paine's article on society and government, which emphasizes the classical christian anthropological principle of duality.
- Analyzes how paine introduces the principles of duality and decentralization in the american colonists, as opposed to britain's tyrannical rule over them.
- Analyzes how paine introduces the principle of consensus and moral deliberation, and the classical christian anthropological principle of a decentralized government.
- Argues that the constitution of england is a union of three powers, reciprocally checking each other.
1744 wordsRead More - The Comparison Of Thomas Paine's Common Senseanalytical essayThomas Paine wrote the Pamphlet “Common Sense” in January of 1776, in terms of what was happening during that period of King George III and his unfair ways. Paine wanted to justify and show the significance of why the United States should be independent of England. The publishing of Common Sense was only the first of all of it. In contribution to the many events that led up to the colonists finally wanting to declare independence from Great Britain, he then placed multiple prestigious taxes on the colonists which resulted in many riots and rebellion. In response to the Stamp Act an Extract from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine “Taxation and Representation are inseparable, - Taxation without Representation is Tyranny”. Thomas Paine uses multiple
In this essay, the author
- Explains that thomas paine wrote the pamphlet "common sense" in january of 1776 to justify and show the significance of the united states being independent of england.
- Explains that thomas paine was born in thetford, in 1737 as his father being a quaker. he was involved with pennsylvania magazine, which set forth the beginning of his pamphlets.
- Analyzes how the publication of "common sense" has already sold 120,000 copies. the content of the pamphlet excited many and it voiced out opinions that many colonists were afraid of.
- Explains the events that led the colonists to rebellion started in the 1760’s with the stamp act that required all legal documents to use ‘stamped’ paper.
- Opines that thomas paine's publication of "common sense" based solely on his opinions and profit didn't matter to him. he also published "the crisis," a series of thirteen pamphlets designated to reinforce american morale.
- Analyzes how the pamphlet "common sense" caused for the unity of the delegates from the thirteen colonies to meet at a convention called continental congress and the declaration of independence.
- Explains that thomas paine believed in the separation of the colonists from british empire, thus convincing the audience that america can be separated.
- Analyzes how thomas paine's pamphlet "the crisis" received a massive positive response from the colonists due to his open opinions.
- Concludes that thomas paine wrote "common sense" in hopes of pushing for the colonists to declare independence from great britain.
1420 wordsRead More - What Is The Common Sense By Thomas Paineopinion essayEngland’s military prowess was known all throughout the world, but the American Revolution proved that, we too, the Americans, were capable of rising up together to fight for our freedom. This is one way that America demonstrated their capability of being able to recreate the world: they made it known that countries did not have to bow down to the rule of the Crown any longer. With the birth of a new society, America stood as the example that if one’s liberties and rights were being denied by any form of government, they had the duty of stepping forward and choosing to fight to defend those rights. The American revolution signified the beginning of a new political world that would promote individual freedom, free markets, and a limited government. Paine, in the excerpt being discussed, is proclaiming that the United States could inspire all the peoples of the world that are being oppressed to reject the ill treatment of the British Empire and start anew with governments and societies based on reason and
In this essay, the author
- Opines that thomas paine's words in "common sense" poured fuel to the fire that called for secession from british rule and the establishment of a republic within the nation’s borders.
- Explains that the american revolution proved that americans were capable of fighting for their freedom. the american revolution signified the beginning of a new political world that would promote individual freedom, free markets, and limited government
- Analyzes how paine believed that america could create the noblest, purest constitution on the face of the earth, which would secure liberty, justice, and equality that americans fought so gallantly for during the american revolution.
- Agrees with paine's belief that america could essentially begin the world again because it possessed an opportunity, that hasn't presented itself since the days of noah, to make laws that brought about equality.
746 wordsRead More - While the exact number is unsure, somewhere around 120,000 copies of Common Sense are said to have circulated in its time, representing its widespread impact when published. Although it circulated by pamphlet--an outdated medium-- many of Thomas Paine’s points have withstood time. His musings on timeless concepts such as government as a necessary evil, monarchy as nonsensical, and representative democracy are maintained in people’s beliefs to this day, predominantly within an American context but can be applied on a broader scale as well. However his thinking in writing to the common person is perhaps the most powerful aspect of Common Sense when applied in a present context. His calculations on military size and extensive biblical referencing may no longer serve a modern audience, but much of the heart in Common Sense still rings relevant in powerful ways.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomas paine's musings on government as a necessary evil, monarchy as nonsensical, and representative democracy have withstood time. his thinking in writing to the common person is perhaps the most powerful aspect of common sense.
- Analyzes how thomas paine characterizes government as he sees it, which is still an influential viewpoint.
- Analyzes how libertarianism is influenced by paine's anti-federalist sentiments in common sense, which opposes governmental control over abortion and healthcare.
- Analyzes how the libertarian party is founded on the same premise of small government serving only its necessary purpose. ronald reagan sums up how republicans believe government has overstepped his boundaries in the past.
- Analyzes how paine's view of government as a necessary evil is still rooted in many american philosophies, but it still applies to the new american figurehead: the president.
- Analyzes how paine reflects on the current state of american affairs and considers what the future government ought to look like.
1078 wordsRead More - “Paine’s Political Pamphlets; Outline of Rhetoric Utilizing Ethos, Logos, & Pathos ”analytical essayPaine introduced his main claim by comparing the differences of a society and government within “Common Sense” (CS). “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher” (Paine 4-5). Using juxtaposition, Paine is able to portray the British government as a form of oppression while society or the American colonies as a virtuous foundation. Government, according to Paine is a means of regulating societies’ sins. By portraying “society” as a form of prosperity, the reader gains an insight to his claim. Furthermore, Paine’s interpretation of society is a means of survival a way for people to work together and prosper. However, in order for Paine to persuaded the audience he relates to their reasoning. “Let us suppose a small number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the e...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomas paine's political pamphlet "common sense" uses rhetorical devices to persuade the audience to rebel against the english monarchy.
- Analyzes how paine introduces his main claim by comparing the differences of a society and government within "common sense".
- Analyzes how thomas paine's rhetoric is similar within his political pamphlet tc "number 1" december 23, 1776.
- Explains that paine, sidney hook, jack fruchtman, "common sense," and "the crisis."
620 wordsRead More - Thomas Paine's Argumentative Analysisanalytical essayHe claimed that as long as America is a part of Britain, no other power would intervene on behalf of America. He argued that in the eyes of other foreign powers, such as France or Spain, the American colonies are seen as rebels, and any foreign help will be used to our advantage and not to the foreign countries’ benefit. Paine urges Americans to strive for independence now, for if they prolong the process, the British will take more of their land. Paine writes, “and until an independence is declared, the Continent will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity” (153). This quote shows that the only way that the colonies will receive independence is if they pursue it immediately instead of
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomas paine's common sense denounces ity of the british government, arguing that separation from britain would be harmful to the already hurting colonies.
- Analyzes how paine argues that america is too vast and complex to be ruled by a small island like britain. because many american colonists were still loyal to britain, the colonies were undecided about independence.
- Analyzes how paine believed that the american colonies would not gain anything by remaining under britain's control. he argued that friendly relations with britain are near impossible as long as they remain obedient.
- Analyzes how paine argued on the topic of foreign aid that no other power would intervene on behalf of america. he urges americans to strive for independence now, for if they prolong the process, the british will take more of their land.
- Analyzes how chalmers argued that america owed a great amount of debt to britain, and without their help, there would essentially be no future for america.
- Analyzes how chalmers argues that america's trade connections would be cut off without britain. while paine believed that france and spain would help america break off from britain, he believed it was unreasonable to assume that they would provide assistance.
- Analyzes chalmers' argument that independency is "inexpedient, ruinous, and impractical" and that reconciliation with great britain on good terms is the only thing that will make us happy.
- Opines that they agree with thomas paine's argument over james chalmers'.
1012 wordsRead More