Common Sense

For those of you with a passion for American history and who enjoyed my previous post concerning the Great Awakening, here is another small but important piece in our country's historical timeline. With the many complex problems America faces today...war, energy, economic, healthcare, Social Security, and many others, one would tend to believe America is facing some of its biggest challenges ever. While there is certainly truth to that ideology, there is still a similarity in the complexity of the issues that our Founding Fathers faced after gaining independence from England. How to establish a government and constitution that gave equal representation to all was the ultimate goal, after all, the Revolutionary war was fought under this premise. This in itself proved to be quite an arduous task due to the difference in opinions of the people. How to control further land settlement in the Western territories that was owned by the different states, how to finance the national debt that was created by the war, slavery or no slavery, are just a few of the many obstacles political leaders faced in the late 17 and early 1800's. America has certainly had its fair share of trying times throughout the past few centuries, but one truth remains self-evident, America will prevail!

Common Sense, a 48 page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, was a collection of his ideas on American independence from England. Originally published anonymously on January 10, 1776 due to its disloyalty to the crown, Paine’s work sold 120,000 copies in three months and 500,000 in the first year during the American Revolution. Paine started work on the piece in late 1775 under the title Plain Truth which was later changed from the suggestion of another Founding Father Benjamin Rush. Rush contributed to both the editing and publishing of Common Sense and the work went through 25 different editions in the first year. The pamphlet challenged the authority of England and spoke plainly to the common people of America concerning their independence from Great Britain. Paine’s dedication to his words and country were evident in the fact that he donated the royalties from his pamphlet to George Washington’s Continental Army. Common Sense consisted of four major sections. In the first section, Paine speaks of a balance between government and society and compares this with the English Constitution. He proposes that as people come together to form a society, problems arise due to population growth and laws are made by elected representatives within that society. In contrast with this balance, Paine explains how tyranny within the English constitution is so easily acquired and that nothing in this form of government contributes to the people it reigns. The second section consists of Paine’s disagreements with monarchy and aristocracy. He uses scripture to support his view that all men are created equal and that a man’s heritage doesn’t give him privileges over another. In the third section, Paine discusses the need for independence from England and gives an outline of elected representatives from each colony, and a proposed Constitution for America. Paine writes about America’s strong military and commercial potential in the fourth section. He mentions the unlimited lumber resources which can expediently build an American navy fleet to rival the English as well as encourage commerce and its protection. Common Sense gave literary clarification to most colonists’ perplexed thoughts about freedom. It was this popular essay that enticed the majority of the population into belief that independence from England could be attainable. It led to the Congressional debate where the choice of independence won the states’ vote and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776.