Thomas Paine's Common Sense

The Revolutionary Era was a time of great historic importance, this was the time period that changed everything. This time period was between the years of 1775 and 1783, the time when the thirteen colonies joined together as a united force to go against the British Empire, to fight for American independence. The colonies, with their new found unity entered a Revolutionary War with Great Britain, which in the year of 1776 officially declared their independence as a new nation, The United States of America. During the year of 1776 a pamphlet was published, its name was Common Sense by Thomas Paine. This pamphlet was the first official work written in plain language to speak to the common people of America asking for independence from Great Britain. The theme of the pamphlet is the inevitability of American independence and the problems with monarchy. Thomas Paine’s use of setting, plot, character and style are all written to better develop his theme and his impact on the common people. It relates to the era because it explains why the people would have wanted to separate from the British Empire for good, how America would come into existence and because this is what has made it become as the Revolutionary era as it is known today.
The setting in which Paine wrote and published his pamphlet was in January of 1776. The year before the pamphlet was written and released there were many things happening at the time. Such as the resistance known as “the Association” agreed that after December 1, 1774 that no goods of any kind were to be imported from Britain and if it failed to change the heart of the king then it was agreed that after September 10, 1775 all exports to Britain would end and as a result England’s trade dropped a drastic ninety- seven-percent. This led to the following events. On March 22, 1775 Edmund Burke urged the fact of making peace with America with his famous speech to the House of Commons. March 30, 1775 parliament passed the Restraining Act which would destroy the commerce of England. October of 1775 some colonists from the colony if Middletown, Connecticut, were speaking of organizations of people that want to bring down King George III. All that happened in 1775, the aggression and anger, heightened the presence of the feel of alienation. When Paine wrote for the Pennsylvania Magazine in the year of 1775 he wrote short miscellaneous pieces including some on the attack on slavery, scientific articles, political articles, and on women’s rights, his interests where vast and instinctively progressive. When Paine left the Pennsylvania Magazine he started to write his pamphlet Common Sense in November 1775. When the pamphlet first appeared for sale in January of 1776 the author of the pamphlet said “Written by an Englishmen”, Paine was angered by this and when his publisher printed a second edition Paine himself put out his own second edition. In the second edition he told the people not to be concerned with who wrote it just to be concerned with him. This was the time when Thomas Pain the Englishmen became the successful American Tom Paine. The setting helps better develop the theme because all that was happening before, while and after around Paine helped him see what the people where in need to see, they needed to see that now was the perfect time for breaking away form the British Empire and that the problems with the King of the Britain .This was the setting in which Paine was present in before, while and after he wrote his pamphlet Common Sense.
The plot of the Common Sense was not to give the people ideas of what to do to break free from the British Empire for their own independence it was to show them the many reason to why the should fight for it and that now was the perfect time to do it. In the pamphlet Paine writes “In the following pages I offer nothing more then simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense; and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feeling to determine for themselves; that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond present day.” In this quote from the book it expresses the plot because he say’s in his own words for the reader to “determine for themselves” he’s just trying to lead the people in the right direction by not telling them what they should do but by showing them what was really happening around them that they didn’t realize, because they could not see. The tone of the quotation is not forceful or demanding it’s simple and soft only implying that they only read and consider what is being read. The syntax of it is simply as to not confuse the reader so that the reader can understand, not be confused by the sentence structure or the use of complex words or language. The plot better helps develop the theme because it gave the people reasons to why America will happen whether it was in their time or another, and made known the many problems with having a monarchy. The plot is what Paine made to capture his readers to the point where they had to finish it because of the order he wrote and conveyed the information he wished to tell the people.
In the pamphlet there is no specific character Paine wrote about, but he does mention past kings of Britain that weren’t so kind during their time of power. He mentions William the Conqueror, Henry the sixth and Edward. When he mentions William the Conqueror it is not in a good sense, in his own words he wrote “England, since the conquest, hath known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones, yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A French bustard landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original.” Then later mentions that “William the Conqueror was an usurper is a fact not to be contradicted.” When he mentions Henry the sixth and Edward he tells of the fact that England laid in a blood scene for many years because of Henry and Edward’s twelve pitched battles, not including skirmishes and sieges. The quotes and information above shows what has happened in England with the bad monarchs that where in power and the blood shed because of the want for power. The tone of the quote is flat as to not show emotion as to really inform the reader of the facts, not bias’s or prejudices. The mention of these people help better develop the theme because it brings awareness to the people as to what has happened is the same things as what is to come if they don’t want independence, also that is clearly states the major problems for everyone with monarchy. Paine just use’s past people of power as examples to better state his point so as to not seem to be simply making it up, he’s basing his writings on facts to prove what has to be said to the people.
The style in which this book was written was in a formal, persuasive yet respectful way toward the people or readers, with an old English feel to it which symbolizes what exactly Thomas Paine was doing. He was trying to make people realize what was really happening around them, how now is the time for them to use their common sense and fight for independence from the British Empire, yet not pushing his readers to where he wants them to follow exactly what he wants them to do. An example is on the first page of the pamphlet where he wrote “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in it’s best state is but a necessary evil; in it’s worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect from a country without government our calamities is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers paradise.” This quote shows that the style is very informative yet simple as to not confuse the reader and the syntax of it, the choice of vocabulary simply implies that the writer was well educated to the point of formality. Also the tone sensed from the literature is simply calm and considerate as to not offend the reader in any way, shape or form. His use of motifs such as to simply keep reminding his reader or audience aware of the fact that he is not implying what they should do, but merely mentioning what could be done. The style helps better develop the theme due to the fact that the style helps intensify the importance of what needs to be done by the people as also showing awareness to the fact that there opinion is of their own but he simply is trying to convey information to possibly in his own words “that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day.” The style is what better strengthens the massage in which Paine is trying to express to the people, which then intensify the reactions of the people, because of Paine’s pamphlet which shifted opinion greatly throughout the colonies for independence with the final result of the Continental Congress making the thirteen colonies a free and independent nation, the United States of America.
Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was the turning point for the people to decide that they wanted and would fight for their independence from the British Empire, which led to the great nation to day the United States of America. Here is written on possible theme which is the inevitability of American independence and the problems with monarchy. Supported with the mention of setting, plot, character and style which was written to better develop the theme with the use of many quotations to better develop each. Here is one analysis of many for Thomas Paine’s Common Sense of the Revolutionary era.

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Common Sense by Thomas Paine