Common Sense (Books of American Wisdom)

Common Sense is one of the greatest articles of argumentation ever written. Paine was the finest pamphleteer of his age and was able to turn the discontents of the colonists and, especially, the intellectual leaders of the revolutionary movement into arguments that were easily understood by ordinary colonials and which inspired them to rally to the cause of independence. I first read Common Sense more than fifty years ago and remember well being impressed with Paine's ability to carry arguments and to anticipate those of his opponents before his tract even hit the street. Over the course of my lifetime, I was inspired by the author and became a pamphleteer of sorts myself. I always told my colleagues that I wanted to become a poor man's Tom Paine. But after reading the piece once again, I realize that almost all who aspire to follow in his footsteps, if not fill his shoes, are doomed to become but very poor copies of the original. Other reviewers have noted the fluidity of his writing; it reads as simply, directly and forcefully today as it must have nearly a quarter of a millennium ago. Obviously, one did not have to be a great reader to be swayed by the force of Paine's words or to be inspired to the side of those wishing to throw off the English yoke. I was struck by echoes of Paine in many great American speeches that were running through my mind as I read. A number of quotes from Robert F. Kennedy seemed to have been directly inspired by Common Sense, and I hastily looked them up and offer these two for your consideration: "It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task." "All of us might wish at times that we lived in a more tranquil world, but we don't. And if our times are difficult and perplexing, so are they challenging and filled with opportunity." The Declaration of Independence itself is a direct offspring of this great tract. Jefferson and the others charged with developing the document were well aware of Paine and had the opportunity to evaluate his words and to use his methods in creating our declaration, and this takes nothing away from their genius. This is a document that can be read in short order, and it is free at the Kindle Store. How can you say no to giving it a try?

A must read for all Americans to gain knowledge of what we stand for, and against. To understand patriots and what we fought for then and now.

Great book, very good price and I would certainly buy from this seller again. Thank you.

A good read and super-relevant in 2026.

I usually admire Colonel Roosevelt, but he missed the mark with his blistering assessment of the author of this brief, world-changing, history-making book. COMMON SENSE is master propagandist Thomas Paine's (1736-1809) compelling argument for American independence. Anyone who wants to understand the true intent of the Founders must read Paine. Paine had previously written in defense of tax collectors (while still in Britain) and his writings had impressed Benjamin Franklin. Published in February 1776, COMMON SENSE sold over 500,000 copies in the Colonies (out of a free population of two-and-a-half million), and was republished throughout Europe. Paine's writings created the necessary groundswell for the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In clear, concise and simple language COMMON SENSE begins with a general reflection about government and religion. It then progresses onto the specifics of the colonial situation. Paine draws a strong distinction between Government and Society. In Paine's view, "Society" is everything constructive that people work together to accomplish, while "Government" is a structure designed specifically to protect human beings from ourselves. Government arises because of human evil; therefore Government is itself a necessary evil. According to Paine, Government exists to protect life, liberty and property. A successful Government accomplishes these ends, and no others. Paine states that a people constrained by Government will be far more satisfied if they themselves are responsible for the creation of the laws that their Government enforces, thus endorsing a form of representative Government in America. Paine has no truck with the British system of Government, or of Monarchy in any form, which he says is an unnatural relation between inherent equals. Paine then sets out the details of his view of the American situation. Paine points out that the American Colonies have evolved into an independent political and economic association that no longer needs Britain's protection or Britain's exploitation. Paine points out that Britain has been suppressing the Colonies rather than encouraging their growth, even for the Mother Country's own benefit. Such abuses make Great Britain undeserving of American loyalty. Paine further argues that it is necessary to seek independence immediately, since the problems that exist between Britain and her Colonies are endemic, and unresolvable. Simply put, America has matured beyond Colonialism. Paine was a hero of the American Revolution. He wrote an ongoing publication "American Crisis" during the Revolutionary War, but has become a "Forgotten Founding Father." A better theorist than a pragmatist, Paine was a strong-willed and opinionated man who alienated many former friends. A true revolutionary rather than a politician, unlamented he left America for France. He was marked for death a number of times during The Terror, but managed to escape by claiming American citizenship. After fleeing Paris, he went back to England for a time. Considered a rabble-rouser by the British for his association with the Irish patriot Wolfe Tone he returned to America again. He was this nation's first true internationalist. By the early 1800s however, Paine's writings, particularly his Deist writings, had alienated the growing Christian Fundamentalist movement of The Second Great Awakening, and he was treated with derision. Thus, when "Citizen Tom Paine" died in New York, it was in near obscurity.

A “must read” for our upcoming 250th Anniversary.

This exposure alone has me regretting my lack of political awareness in the broader applications described herein. Uh-Oh, it's already affected my writing.

As a disclaimer I am not a U.S. citizen and I live in a far away country. But then again Thomas Paine too. He moved to America only two years before the U.S. independence from the United Kingdom, so it is clear that he explains his thoughts in base of what he takes as common sense rather than reality. Among the phrases that I found could be easily refuted are the following: * "...there were not kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars." Wars to get resources always have existed and if not they are exceptions to the rule. In our present day without kings there are more wars because many groups profit from them. Rome waged wars under the SPQR banner: people and senate of Rome united. * "How impious is the title of sacred majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling into dust." I love this phrase as poetry, but I disagree in its concept. Certainly kings are men and women as any other, but not less than any other. Of course its intention was to negate the authority of the king what was useful for the interests of independence. * "Monarchy is ranked in scripture as one of the sins of the Jews" this is cherry picking. The Bible was written by the sacerdotal order of Israel. As so there is a bias against to the kings that didn't follow the whims of their priests. In other parts of the bible some kings are exalted as sent by God. * "...that your children and your children's children shall reign over ours for ever." This is against the idea of hereditary monarchies. I agree it is ridiculous, but then again the times in which it was needed were different. * "A French bastard landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives" hehe here I cannot avoid to smile. I am indigenous, from an ethnia in the Andes. If I would subscribe to this thought the consequence would be the expulsion of any person in the Americas of European ancestry, because it applies to us, natives, that with the use of weapons our former lands were taken away without our consent. But I don't believe this and I don't believe in Paine. I think there are wars and sometimes one group losses and the other wins, and if something is lost in war then should be recovered with war, not begging. * We claim brotherhood with every European Christian" this is evidently false and is only said to negate the cultural heritage from England. In some other part it seems he only recognizes as European and Christian the persons from "England, Holland, Germany, or Sweden." this means mostly Northwesterner Europeans whose Christian faith is other than Catholicism and whose cultural heritage is not Latin but Norse and Germanic heritage. What Thomas Paine doesn't say is that those other populations work and contribute in the cultural frame set by England, and they do it in English language, with English names. Nevertheless I understand this argument was useful to point that there is no bond with the English royalty. * "The first king of England (...) was a Frenchman, and half of the peers of England are descendants from the same country; wherefore (...) England ought to be governed by France." The issue is that actually both England and France had wars about the right to rule over each other, the English kings fought for the right to rule France. Paine ignores or choose to ignore the rules of vassal kings. * "The reformation was preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years." Rolling my eyes here xD America was already populated and discovered thousands of years before. Actually one of the reasons of independence is that the English king didn't allow the original colonies to expand over native lands due to treaties with the crown. So, in a sense, Paine agrees in persecute other persons, he is unaware of it and, for the norms of the age, that is okay. In the end my understainding is that he tries to replace the authority of the king not with the authority of the people but (his interpretation) of the bible. Also I think the invisibility blanket he throws to American natives is not due to racism but simply by kinship for what he understand as civilization, and this being a shared baggage of cultural, religious and idiomatic affinities; is natural he can only see Northwestern Europeans of non Catholic affiliation and with a Norse and Germanic background as the only ones meant to be called civilization. Common sense is a useful tool to think and take good choices. But it is only in a context of familiarity where traditions by trial and error have proven what works and what not. Outside that frame, as for example a revolution, common sense can end in the election of poor choices and we require a more rigurous framework as it is the scientific method or, even, embracing chaos and turning to instinct. The value of this document (a high one indeed) is measured rather by its emotional encouragement for the independence of the thirteen colonies than by the soundness of its reasoning, even judged by what I think were the standards in those times.