With this in mind, what tone does he lead the reader to expect: cynical, impatient, hopeful, reasonable, impassioned, angry? I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Since the challenges are deflected from “you,” the reader, to the third-person “other,” no immediate personal reply is demanded. Britain is oppressed with a debt of upwards of one hundred and forty millions sterling, for which she pays upwards of four millions interest. John Adams, autobiography, part 1, “John Adams,” through 1776, sheet 23 of 53 [electronic edition]. No man was a warmer wisher for reconciliation than myself, before the fatal nineteenth of April 1775, but the moment the event of that day was made known, I rejected the hardened, sullen tempered Pharaoh of England for ever; and disdain the wretch, that with the pretended title of FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE, can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul. We may as well assert that because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a, Men of passive tempers [temperaments] look somewhat lightly over the offenses of 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. The book really resonated with me. In order to gain a clear and just idea of the design and end of government, let us suppose a small number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the earth, unconnected with the rest; they will then represent the first peopling of any country, or of the world.
Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression.
1. A desperate fugitive, “freedom” has been “hunted” and “expelled” throughout the world, and it is America’s mission to protect and nurture her. What questions do they prompt?
But if you say, you can still pass the violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt? What tone does Paine add with the phrases “The sun never shined” and “even to the end of time”? And in order that nothing may pass into a law but what is satisfactorily just, not less than three fifths of the Congress to be called a majority. It was next to impossible. This Enlightenment ideal anchored revolutionary initiatives in America and Europe for decades. This lesson focuses on the sections central to Paine’s argument in Common Sense — Section III and the Appendix to the Third Edition, published a month after the first edition. No man can assign the least pretence for his fears, on any other grounds, that such as are truly childish and ridiculous, viz. To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession; and as the first is a degradation and lessening of ourselves, so the second, claimed as a matter of right, is an insult and imposition on posterity. [footnote in Paine], 1. So Samuel called unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. Although descent among the colonists was growing over the British government's newly levied taxes and customs duties and the bloody battle at Concord, there was still talk of reconciliation among the colonists. George Washington ordered the pamphlet read to all his troops. ), The Secret Science of Solving Crossword Puzzles, Racist Phrases to Remove From Your Mental Lexicon. The present winter is worth an age if rightly employed, but if lost or neglected, the whole continent will partake of the misfortune; and there is no punishment which that man will not deserve, be he who, or what, or where he will, that may be the means of sacrificing a season so precious and useful. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The representation more equal. If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. By reviewing Paine’s life and publications—especially "Common Sense"--during the early portion of the Revolution, students will gain an appreciation for the essential role Paine played in explaining the patriot position and moving public opinion in favor of independence. However it is needless to spend much time in exposing the folly of hereditary right; if there are any so weak as to believe it, let them promiscuously worship the Ass and the Lion, and welcome. He uses anger, the natural emotion of the mob, to let the most active groups find themselves in the general will of a republican citizenry.”7 What if Paine had written the Declaration of Independence with the same hard-driving rhetoric? This is the time to unite for independence. Common Sense sold 120,000 copies within three months of its publication and 500,000 within a year. Kings they had none, and it was held sinful to acknowledge any being under that title but the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others. Why is the constitution of England sickly, but because monarchy hath poisoned the Republic; the Crown hath engrossed the Commons. If you haven’t, then you still owe compassion to those who have. 1777.
It is now become our delightful theme and commands our purest affections. If they can honestly answer each challenge, he asserts, and still support reconciliation, then they are selfish cowards bringing ruin to America.
Now therefore hearken unto their voice, howbeit, protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the King that shall reign over them," i.e.