Common Sense (1776)¶

Author: Thomas Paine Type: Primary Source · Argumentative Essay Source: Project Gutenberg — public domain Era/Period: Era 3 — Age of Revolutions WH Standards: WH.6_12.4 · WH.6_12.5 USH Connection: US.6_12.4 (Unit 4 context — ideas that shaped American democracy)

What This Text Is About¶

Common Sense is a 47-page pamphlet published on January 10, 1776, that made the case for American independence from Britain in plain, forceful language. Thomas Paine wrote it for ordinary people — not lawyers or politicians — and it became the best-selling printed work per capita in American history. Paine argued that monarchy is an irrational and corrupt system, that hereditary rule has no legitimate basis, and that establishing an independent republic was both possible and necessary.

Read It¶

Key selections — full text public domain. Full text at Project Gutenberg.

Introduction¶

Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.

The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances hath, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all Lovers of Mankind are affected, and in the Event of which, their Affections are interested. The laying a Country desolate with Fire and Sword, declaring War against the natural rights of all Mankind, and extirpating the Defenders thereof from the Face of the Earth, is the Concern of every Man to whom Nature hath given the Power of feeling.

Of the Origin and Design of Government in General¶

Some writers 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. 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 a patron, the last a punisher.

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. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise.

Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession¶

Mankind being originally equals in the order of creation, the equality could only be destroyed by some subsequent circumstance. But 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. Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth enquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind.

In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throw mankind into confusion.

Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The Heathens paid divine honors to their deceased kings, and the christian world hath improved on the plan by doing the same to their living ones. How impious is the title of sacred majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling into dust!

For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever, and though himself might deserve some decent degree of honors of his cotemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them. One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.

This is supposing the present race of kings in the world to have had an honorable origin; whereas it is more than probable, that could we take off the dark covering of antiquity, and trace them to their first rise, that we should find the first of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of some restless gang, whose savage manners or pre-eminence in subtility obtained him the title of chief among plunderers.

In short, monarchy and succession have laid (not this or that kingdom only) but the world in blood and ashes. 'Tis a form of government which the word of God bears testimony against, and blood will attend it.

Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.

ELA Standards This Connects To¶

R.9 — Common Sense is one of the most carefully constructed argumentative texts in the American canon. Students can map Paine's claims, identify his evidence (historical examples, biblical critique, economic argument), and evaluate his reasoning. Is his argument logical? What emotional appeals does he use?
R.7 — Paine's word choices are deliberate and inflammatory. "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." Close reading of his rhetorical strategies (repetition, sarcasm, plain speech as persuasion technique).
W.4 — The gold standard for argumentative writing. Students can use Paine as a mentor text: How does he set up his claim? What's his structure? How does he handle counterarguments?
W.3 — Extended informational writing: Explain Paine's argument and analyze why it was effective for its audience.

WH.6_12.4 — Common Sense is a direct cause document of the American Revolution — evidence of how Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and self-governance translated into political action.
WH.6_12.5 — Paine explicitly analyzes the economic costs of British rule ("we are already greater than half the business of Britain") and argues independence is an economic as well as political necessity.
US.6_12.4 — Can be used comparatively: How do Paine's ideas about democratic participation echo in Progressive Era reform movements?

Key Vocabulary¶

Term	Definition
Monarchy	A government ruled by a single hereditary ruler (king or queen)
Hereditary	Passed down through bloodlines — the basis of monarchy Paine attacks
Republic	A government in which power rests with elected representatives and citizens
Pamphlet	A short printed booklet — the social media of the 18th century, cheap to produce and easy to distribute
Natural rights	Rights that belong to all people by nature, not granted by government (life, liberty, property)

Key Passage¶

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... Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise. — Common Sense, Introduction

And on monarchy specifically:

Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. — Common Sense, Part II

The first passage shows Paine's Enlightenment framework: government is a concession to human weakness, not a natural good. The second shows his willingness to attack monarchy in directly contemptuous language — unusual and inflammatory for 1776.

Studio Ideas¶

"Was Paine Right?" — EQ: Can one document actually change the course of history? · Standard: WH.6_12.4 + Era 3 · Demo Mode: Extended Writing (W.4 argument analyzing Paine's argument structure and effectiveness)
"The Power of Plain Language" — EQ: Why does the way you say something matter as much as what you say? · Standard: R.9 (ELA) · Demo Mode: Multimedia/Performance (student recreates Paine's argument for a modern audience using his rhetorical techniques)
"What Does Paine Assume About Human Nature?" — EQ: What beliefs about people have to be true for democracy to work? · Standard: WH.6_12.4 + Era 3 · Demo Mode: Verbal Conversation (Socratic seminar comparing Paine's assumptions with Hobbes's Leviathan)
"Argumentative Mentor Text Analysis" — EQ: How do expert writers build an argument? · Standard: W.4 (ELA) · Demo Mode: Portfolio Annotation (annotate Paine's structure — claim/evidence/reasoning/counterargument)

Why This Is Relevant Today?¶

Common Sense sold 500,000 copies in a population of 2.5 million — proportionally, it would be the best-selling book in American history if published today. Paine achieved this not with academic argument but by making a simple, direct case in plain language that anyone could follow: monarchy is a bad idea, hereditary rule is absurd, and the colonies have nothing to lose by declaring independence. That combination — a clear argument, accessible language, and mass distribution — is the template for every successful political persuasion campaign since. The pamphlet's structure (here's the problem, here's the case against the status quo, here's what we should do instead) is also the structure of every editorial, petition, and social media thread trying to move people to action. Paine also showed that political arguments don't have to be written for elites to be taken seriously — he wrote for the public, and the public responded. That model of democratic persuasion is always relevant.