What Is Paine's Thesis In Common Sense

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Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. He and Robert Bell published it on January 9, 1776 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Paine’s objective was to test the authority and policies of the King of England and the British Parliament. Common Sense is organized into four sections entitled: “Of the Origin and Design of Government in General, With Concise Remarks on the English Constitution”, “Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession”, “Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs”, and “On the Present Ability of America, With Some Miscellaneous Reflections”. Paine’s thesis in Common Sense is that monarchy is an inefficient and badly organized form of government, and that the colonies should gain their independence to be free from the crown. …show more content…

He said that the difference between the two is that society is a result of human desires, and that government is produced by wickedness. A lack of structure through government would be catastrophic, and he believed that it was essential though he considered it wicked. He expressed the importance of a representative body, such as Congress, and the importance of representing the interests of the rest of the people. He challenged the Divine Right of Kings and how the British government seemed to contradict itself. He said that the process of the King checking Parliament and then Parliament checking the King seemed off to him because the King is supposedly appointed by God. This in particular caused Paine to think that the British were basically making the government up as they went, and did not have clear idea of what they were doing. He used this to challenge the Loyalists, who sided with the British Parliament. Paine seems to think that the Loyalists had a sense of pride, though they did not know what they had pride in. He did not think that those who supported the monarchy understood

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