(CP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
January 1776
Annotation
In 1776 an obscure immigrant published a small pamphlet that ignited independence
in America and shifted the political landscape of the patriot movement from reform within the
British imperial system to independence from it. 120,000 copies sold in the first three months in
a nation of three million people, making Common Sense the best-selling printed work by a
single author in American history up to that time. It was a pamphlet (46 pages) written to be
accessible to the "common" folk of America. This lesson looks at Thomas Paine and at some
of the ideas presented in Common Sense, such as national unity, natural rights, the
illegitimacy of the monarchy and of hereditary aristocracy, and the necessity for independence
and the revolutionary struggle.
Common Sense made a clear case for independence. Paine relentlessly insisted that
British rule was responsible for nearly every problem in colonial society and that the 1770s
crisis could only be resolved by colonial independence. That goal, he maintained, could only be achieved through unified
action. Hardnosed political logic demanded the creation of an American nation. The message was powerful because it
was written in relatively blunt language that colonists of different backgrounds could understand. Paine, despite his
immigrant status, was appealing to both the common people in America because of his immigrant status, and to the
wealthy (i.e. Patriots, Founding Fathers). His words united elite and popular strands of revolt, welding the Congress
(nobility) and the street (average person) into a common purpose.
Agenda:
This lesson contains two activities, each with several parts. Activity 1 focuses on selections from Common Sense
discussing American independence, while Activity 2 focuses on Paine's attack on the institution of hereditary monarchy.
Activity 1: American Independence
Directions. Read the following excerpts from Common Sense, and respond to the questions.
Selection from Common Sense (taken from paragraphs 17 and 21-24 of the section titled "Thoughts on the Present State
of American Affairs.").
1. "I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single advantage that this continent
can reap by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge; not a single advantage is
derived. . .
2. …I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse [support] the doctrine of reconciliation, may be
included within the following descriptions.
3. Interested men, who are not to be trusted, weak men who CANNOT see, prejudiced men who will
not see, and a certain set of moderate men who think better of the European world than it deserves;
and this last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this Continent
than all the other three.
4. It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of present sorrow [Boston]; the evil is not
sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel the precariousness [instability] with which all
American property is possessed. But let our imaginations … instruct us forever to renounce [reject] a
power in whom we can have no trust [Britain]. The inhabitants of that unfortunate city [Boston], who
but a few months ago were in ease and affluence [wealth], have now no other alternative than to stay
and starve, or … to beg. Endangered by the fire of their friends [supporters of Britain] if they … [stay]
within the city and plundered by the [British] soldiery if they leave it, in their present situation they are
prisoners without the hope of redemption...
5. Men of passive tempers [non-resistant, unassertive] look somewhat lightly over the offences of
Great Britain, and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out, "Come, come, we shall be friends again
for all this." But examine the passions and feelings of mankind: … tell me whether you can hereafter
love, honour, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land? If you
cannot do all these, then you are only deceiving yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon
posterity [the future]. Your future connection with Britain, whom you can neither love nor honour, will
be forced and unnatural, and … [the result of] convenience [habit]… But if you say, you can still pass
the violations over [forgive Britain], then I ask, hath your house been burnt? Hath your property been
destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children destitute of [lacking] a bed to lie on, or bread to
live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched
survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. But if you have, and can still
shake hands with the murderers, then are you unworthy the name of husband, father, friend or lover,
and whatever may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward, and the spirit of a
sycophant [kiss up]. . .
6. Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world
[Europe] is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa,
have long expelled her. —Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to
depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."
Questions about the selection from Common Sense
1. Paragraphs 2 and 3
According to Paine, what kinds of people "espouse the doctrine of reconciliation" with England? What does Paine's
language tell you about how he feels about these people?
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(CP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
January 1776
2. Paragraph 4
How does Paine describe life in Boston, and why does he think the situation there shows that England should not be
governing the colonies?
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3. Paragraph 5
How does Paine describe those who would reconcile with Great Britain? What does his description of them tell you about
his attitude toward them?
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What questions does Paine have for those who would reconcile with England? Why does Paine think reconciliation is
impossible?
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4. Paragraph 6
Who, in this paragraph is the "fugitive," and what is the “asylum for mankind?”
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3 What role [globally] does Paine assign to America?
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Activity 2: Attacking Hereditary Monarchy
Directions: Read the Excerpt below from Common Sense and answer the questions directly below.
Excerpts from Common Sense:
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MANKIND being originally equals in the order of creation…But there is … [a great] 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 [high ranking] above the rest, and
distinguished like some new species, is worth enquiring into, and whether they are the means [cause]
of happiness or of misery to mankind.
To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession; and … [it] is [a] degradation
[humiliation] and lessening of ourselves… claimed as a … right [by the King of England], is an insult
and an imposition on posterity [our future]. For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could
have a right to set up his own family in … preference to all others for ever, and though himself might
deserve some decent degree of honors … his descendants [children] might be far too unworthy to
inherit them. One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly [mistake, stupidity] 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.
Secondly, as no man... could possess any other public honors [other] than … [those] bestowed upon
him [by the public]… the givers of those honors … have no power to give away the … [future], and
though they might say "We choose you for our head," they could not, without … injustice to their
children, say "that your children and your children's children shall reign over ours for ever." Because
such an unwise, unjust, unnatural compact [agreement] might (perhaps) in the next succession [of a
king] put them under the government of a rogue [rascal, scoundrel] or a fool. Most wise men, in their
private sentiments, have … treated hereditary right with contempt [disapproval]; yet it is one of those
evils, which when once established is not easily removed; many submit from fear, others from
superstition [i.e. the false belief that a king = stability in government]…
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 … trace them to their first rise, that we should find the first of them
nothing better than the principal ruffian [thug] of some restless gang, whose savage manners …
obtained him the title of chief among plunderers; and who by increasing in power… over-awed the quiet
and defenceless … Yet his … [supporters] could have [had] no idea of giving hereditary right to his
descendants, because such a[n] … exclusion of themselves was incompatible with the free and
unrestrained principles they professed to live by… hereditary succession in the early ages of monarchy
could not take place as a matter of [legal] claim, but as something casual … but as few or no records
were [kept] … in those days, and … history stuffed with fables, it was very easy, after the lapse of a few
generations, to trump up some superstitious tale, conveniently timed… to cram hereditary right down
(CP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
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January 1776
the throats of the … [people] … what at first was submitted to as a convenience, was afterwards
claimed as a right…
But it is not so much the absurdity as the evil of hereditary succession which concerns mankind.
Did it ensure a race of good and wise men it would have the seal of divine authority, but as it opens a
door to the foolish, the wicked, and the improper, it hath in it the nature of oppression. Men who look
upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent [wicked]; selected from the rest
of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially
from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they
succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any …
Another evil …[of] hereditary succession is, that the throne is subject to be possessed by a minor at
any age; all which time the regency [real ruler], acting under the cover of a king, have every opportunity
… to betray their trust. The same national misfortune happens, when a king worn out with age and
infirmity [old age], enters the last stage of human weakness. In both these cases the public becomes a
prey to every miscreant [wrongdoer, troublemaker], who can … successfully [take advantage of] …
either … age or infancy.
The most plausible plea [strongest argument], which hath ever been offered in favour of hereditary
succession, is, that it preserves a nation from civil wars; and were this true, it would be weighty
[important, significant]; … [but] it is the most barefaced falsity [bold lie] ever imposed upon mankind.
The whole history of England disowns the fact. Thirty kings and two minors have reigned in that
distracted kingdom since the conquest, in which time there have been … no less than eight civil wars
and nineteen rebellions… instead of making for peace, it makes against it, and destroys the very
foundation it seems to stand on.
Questions:
This set of questions refers to specific passages in the excerpt:
1. How does Paine think the distinction between KING and SUBJECT is different from the other societal distinctions
among people? (Lines 4-11)
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2. What words does Paine use to suggest that the distinction between KING and SUBJECT is unnatural? (Lines 13-22)
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3. What, in Paine's opinion, is wrong with "hereditary succession?" What leadership problems, according to Paine, does
"hereditary succession" create? (Lines 24-35)
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4. What does Paine think were the real "origins" of monarchy (i.e., how does he think it probably began?)(Lines 37-42)
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5. Why does Paine think that people eventually came to believe that hereditary monarchy was natural or correct? (Lines
42-52)
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6. Why does Paine call hereditary succession evil? What problems does he think it creates for shaping leaders? In
other words, why, according to Paine, do kings often become “foolish,” “wicked,” and “improper?” (Lines 54-63)
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7. What other (age-related) concern does Paine express regarding hereditary succession? (Lines 65-72)
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8. How does Paine refute a major argument in favor of hereditary monarchy? (Lines 74-82)
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(CP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
January 1776
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