Educational materials developed through the Baltimore County History Labs Program, a partnership between Baltimore County Public Schools
and the UMBC Center for History Education.
RS#30: History Lab Document Log Answer Key
Overarching Question: Should the colonists have revolted against Great Britain?
Document Name: Common Sense
Type of Document: Primary Source—Pamphlet
Date of Document: January 10, 1776
Author of Document: Thomas Paine
Author Information: Founding Father
Intended Audience: Colonists
Purpose for Writing: To express his disapproval of monarchies and to urge democracy
Does Thomas Paine think the colonists should revolt against Great Britain?
Text Support
Paragraph 1-Kings cause wars. Holland has had no king and has had fewer wars this century than
Europe.
Paragraph 2-Heathens and pagans created gods. It is wrong to worship a king like a god.
Paragraph 4- God is against monarchies.
Paragraph 3- People of any age can have the throne due to secession. Then evil people can manipulate
the young or old.
Paragraph 5-Britian should be ashamed of how she has treated us. Europe is our Mother Country.
People fled from Britain because she was like a monster.
Paragraph 6 & 7-There are no reasons we should stay with Great Britain. We should rule ourselves.
Author’s Perspective: Thomas Paine thinks that the colonists should rule themselves instead of being
ruled by a King. He finds fault with monarchies and thinks that kings cause war and worship false idols.
Also, old and young kings can be manipulated by evil people, which is bad for the country’s citizens.
Great Britain has treated the colonists terribly and they should break away.