Thomas Paine’s Common Sense Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was a pamphlet which became the best selling written document of the Revolutionary Era. It’s basic theme: the continent of North America should declare independence and fight against England to be free.

  1. Even after Lexington and Concord, many American colonists equivocated regarding the possibility of war. How does Paine argue in favor of war in this document?  Paine argues in favor of Independence and warfare, suggesting that the colonists owe it to themselves and their posterity to throw off the English yoke. He openly questions the manhood of anyone open to reconciliation, and attempts to contradict every argument in favor of peace and reconciliation. Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

  2. How does Paine use the analogy of children breaking away from their parents to advance his argument? According to Paine, is England the parent nation of the American colonies? If so, what are the successes and failures of the analogy?  Does a child that thrived on milk never eat meat?  Are you the same man in your first twenty years as in your second twenty?  If England is our parent, then shame on her! She’s abused us.  Europe is our parent – not only England. It is “false, selfish, narrow, and ungenerous” to suggest. Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

  3. What examples does Paine provide to suggest that Americans will be materially better off economically as a result of their independence? How does the mercantilist system exploit Americans, according to Paine?  Dependency is no path forward.  What worked in the past will not necessarily work in the future.  England protected the American colonies for the sake of trade and dominion. They are not more attached to us than the Turks.  Europe needs our food. Corn will get it’s price.  England isn’t giving us goods at discounted prices.  We could have peace with France, Spain, other European state if the English would stop dragging us into conflicts.  Tyranny drove us from England and Europe in general. Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

  4. What sort of people are in favor of reconciliation, according to Paine?  Interested men, who are not to be trusted.  Weak minded men who cannot see.  Prejudiced men who will not see.  Men who defer to Europeans no matter what.  People who are too far removed from Boston and incapable of empathizing.  “Those with the heart of a coward and the spirit of a sycophant would allow these transgressions and still seek reconciliation.” Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

  5. How does geography influence one’s beliefs regarding the course of the American Revolution, according to Thomas Paine?  The American Revolution is a continental affair – from Canada to the Caribbean.  England is little and homogeneous, America is vast and heterogeneous. Why would they rule over us.  The distance between England and its American colonies is proof enough; Americans cannot be managed by a power so distant from us.  “there is something very absurd in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.”  “England to Europe; America to itself.” Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

  6. What is the most compelling argument Paine makes? Why might American colonists have had some reasons for concern with the document’s premise?  England protected the American colonies for the sake of trade and dominion. They are not more attached to us than the Turks.  American ties to England actually cause us to have to participate in wars! Neutrality is the safer course.  The discovery of the Americas before the Reformation was the work of God…  The present government will certainly not outlast our generation; we owe it to our children not to punt... Common Sense, by Thomas Paine

The Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most eloquent articulation of American’s creed – although the meaning of the document has expanded over the course of the last two hundred and thirty odd years.

  1. In the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson included the following passage: He [the king of Britain] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it’s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.  1A. To what extent was this criticism just? Why would the Continental Congress have removed the passage before its publication? The Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson on Slavery; Hypocrisy Being intellectual men – if not always intellectually honest – the Founding Fathers must have been struck by the transparent hypocrisy of the passage. If they were willing to include a paragraph which was so obviously disingenuous, how could anyone take the Declaration of Independence seriously?

  2. What are the purposes of government, according to the Declaration of Independence?  To secure the “inalienable” rights: Life Liberty Property, or the “pursuit of Happiness.” Much of the language of the document is influenced by the English political philosopher John Locke. The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

  3. When is it appropriate to overthrow the government and find new methods to govern?  “Whenever a government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the People to alter of abolish it, and to institute new Government.”  “Prudence, indeed, with dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.”  “When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.” The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

  4. Why is the list of grievances enumerated by the Declaration of Independence directed at the King, rather than towards the Parliament? Is this important?  The King was the final authority when it came to sovereignty. Throughout the process of “declaring independence” the First and Second Continental Congresses had always held out hope that the King had been misled by the Parliament. With the rejection of the Olive Branch Petition and the clear rejection of the colonists efforts towards peace and reconciliation, it was clear that King George III had abandoned his people. Thus, the list of grievances was directed at him, and it ended any possibility of compromise. The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

  5. Which of the grievances appear to be the most important to you?  Dissolving representative houses.  Standing armies without the consent of legislatures.  Cutting off our trade with all parts of the world.  Depriving us of trial by jury.  Waging war against us, with foreign mercenaries.  Incited domestic insurrections by “the merciless Indian Savages.”  Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

  1. To what extent do the individual rights enumerated and preserved in the original Bill of Rights correspond to the list of grievances against the King? Give several examples.  A representative legislature would be established. (This amendment was not adopted… Why?)  Limiting pay – current 27 th Amendment.  The right to petition the government. (First Amendment)  A well-regulated militia. (Second Amendment)  Quartering soldiers. (Third Amendment)  Freedom from unlawful search and seizure of property. (Fourth Amendment)  Indictments by grand jury and due process. (Fifth Amendment)  Trial by jury of one’s peers, due process. (Sixth and Seventh Amendments)  No excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishment. (8 th Amendment) The Bill of Rights