The pamphlet “Common Sense,” written by radical and revolutionary Thomas Paine, not only changed and encouraged the thinking of his contemporaries, but also helped shape the governmental structure of our present world. In his writing, Paine’s arguments were bound up in pictures and metaphors that made his work more appealing to a larger audience. His sharing a common tread with the common folk made his literature make more sense. He gives us many reasons as to why America didn’t need Britain, while supporting his claims with evidence and practical theory.

To begin, Thomas Paine notes the many problems with monarchy, specifically in Britain. On the principle of religion, Paine holds, “that the authority of the one, over the other, was never the design of heaven” (Paine, Common Sense, 87). Also, as a “parent” country, it should be providing for the security of its colonies, not leading it to ruin. He points out that Britain “protects” the colonies for its own financial gain, not out of altruism. Again, had the colonies not been dependent on their parent country, they

Why should Americans do this? Is it even practical for the colonists to attempt to pursue independence? Paine informs his readers that America produces the natural resources necessary to undertake the construction of a navy that can rival even the British. He continues, “We are sufficiently numerous, and were we more so, we might be less united” (Paine, Common Sense, 106). America’s size thus makes the time perfect for the colonies to seek independence and unity. If they wait, the king will only seize control of more land, handing it to the British elite. It makes sense to rebel against the depraved British now, and strike while they still can. In this section of “Common Sense”, Pain is making a more convincing case that America can do what many would consider impossible.

Through his eloquence, Paine demonstrates that it is common sense for the colonies to rebel from the corrupt monarchy in Europe. Their common interest was not at the heart of the British king and their safety was not at the heart of the kings military. Thus, “Common sense will tell us, that the power which hath endeavored to subdue us, is of all others the mos

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