Pamphlet: Common Sense

Overview
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published anonymously in January 1776, is a blistering argument for American independence that rejects monarchy, exposes the contradictions of the British constitution, and lays out a popular republican alternative. Written in a direct, vivid style, it aimed not at elites but at ordinary colonists, turning simmering grievances into a coherent case for a clean break. Its central claim is that political legitimacy must rest on natural rights and the consent of the governed, not on inherited power or distant rule.

Society, Government, and Monarchy
Paine opens by distinguishing society, which arises from human needs and fosters happiness, from government, which exists to restrain vices and is at best a necessary evil. From this premise he attacks monarchy and hereditary succession as unnatural, irrational, and impious. Drawing on scripture and history, he argues that kingship began with conquest and theft, not divine appointment, and that the British crown is merely an exalted superstition perpetuated by ceremony. The mixed British constitution, crown, lords, and commons, does not balance power but multiplies it in the hands of the few while confusing accountability. The idea that posterity should be ruled by accident of birth, he says, is an affront to reason and justice.

The Case Against Reconciliation
Addressing colonists still inclined to patch things up with Britain, Paine insists reconciliation is both impossible and morally wrong. The empire’s so-called protection has been self-serving, embroiling America in European quarrels and constraining its trade. Distance alone makes good governance absurd: a continent should not be ruled by an island across an ocean. Blood has already been shed at Lexington and Concord, and the king’s proclamations have branded Americans as rebels. To retreat now would invite further oppression, perpetuate dependency, and squander the chance to found a free polity. Time, he argues, favors decisive action; the longer dependence continues, the weaker the prospects for unity and liberty.

The Republican Alternative
Rejecting monarchy does not mean embracing anarchy. Paine calls for a written constitution that secures natural rights through representation, frequent elections, and clear, limited powers. He sketches a continental framework in which the colonies coordinate through a national congress, while local assemblies preserve self-government. Rotation in office and a broad franchise would prevent the emergence of a new aristocracy. Law, not a person, must be sovereign, and the magistrates must be servants of the people. Americans have already built civil institutions through necessity; independence would simply align political authority with lived reality.

Commerce, Security, and Foreign Alliances
Paine argues that independence is the key to prosperity and safety. Free from British mercantilist restraints, American commerce could trade with all of Europe. A modest navy, achievable with American resources, would protect coasts and shipping far better than reliance on a fickle imperial guardian. Independence would also enable formal alliances, especially with France, impossible while acknowledging the British king. Rather than risk perpetual warfare as a subordinate province, America should claim neutrality or partnerships on equal terms.

Style, Audience, and Impact
Common Sense wields reason and moral outrage with plainspoken clarity, studded with arresting lines such as “government even in its best state is but a necessary evil.” Its blend of practical design and prophetic urgency turned a constitutional dispute into a revolutionary movement. Circulating rapidly through the colonies, it helped shift public opinion toward independence and provided a vocabulary, rights, representation, continental union, with which a new nation could speak of itself.