(PreAP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
January 1776
Annotation
In 1776 an obscure immigrant published a small pamphlet that
ignited independence in America and shifted the political landscape
of the patriot movement from reform within the British imperial
system to independence from it. 120,000 copies sold in the first
three months in a nation of three million people, making Common Sense
the best-selling printed work by a single author in American history
up to that time. It was a pamphlet (46 pages) written to be
accessible to the "common" folk of America. This lesson looks at
Thomas Paine and at some of the ideas presented in Common Sense, such
as national unity, natural rights, the illegitimacy of the monarchy
and of hereditary aristocracy, and the necessity for independence and
the revolutionary struggle.
Common Sense made a clear case for independence. Paine relentlessly insisted that
British rule was responsible for nearly every problem in colonial society and that the
1770s crisis could only be resolved by colonial independence. That goal, he maintained,
could only be achieved through unified action. Hardnosed political logic demanded the
creation of an American nation. The message was powerful because it was written in
relatively blunt language that colonists of different backgrounds could understand.
Paine, despite his immigrant status, was appealing to both the common people in America
because of his immigrant status, and to the wealthy (i.e. Patriots, Founding Fathers).
His words united elite and popular strands of revolt, welding the Congress (nobility) and
the street (average person) into a common purpose.
Agenda:
This lesson contains two activities, each with several parts. Activity 1 focuses on
selections from Common Sense discussing American independence, while Activity 2 focuses
on Paine's attack on the institution of hereditary monarchy.
Activity 1: American Independence
Directions. Read the following excerpts from Common Sense, and respond to the
questions.
Selection from Common Sense (taken from paragraphs 17 and 21-24 of the section titled
"Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs.").
1. "I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single
advantage that this continent can reap by being connected with Great
Britain. I repeat the challenge; not a single advantage is derived. . .
2. …I am inclined to believe, that all those who espouse [support] the
doctrine of reconciliation, may be included within the following
descriptions.
3. Interested men, who are not to be trusted, weak men who CANNOT see,
prejudiced men who will not see, and a certain set of moderate men who
think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class,
by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this
Continent than all the other three.
4. It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of present
sorrow [Boston]; the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to
make them feel the precariousness [instability] with which all American
property is possessed. But let our imaginations … instruct us forever to
renounce [reject] a power in whom we can have no trust [Britain]. The
inhabitants of that unfortunate city [Boston], who but a few months ago
were in ease and affluence [wealth], have now no other alternative than to
stay and starve, or … to beg. Endangered by the fire of their friends
[supporters of Britain] if they … [stay] within the city and plundered by
the [British] soldiery if they leave it, in their present situation they
are prisoners without the hope of redemption...
5. Men of passive tempers [non-resistant, unassertive] look somewhat
lightly over the offences of Great Britain, and, still hoping for the best,
are apt to call out, "Come, come, we shall be friends again for all this."
But examine the passions and feelings of mankind: … tell me whether you can
hereafter love, honour, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried
fire and sword into your land? If you cannot do all these, then you are
only deceiving yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon posterity
[the future]. Your future connection with Britain, whom you can neither
love nor honour, will be forced and unnatural, and … [the result of]
convenience [habit]… But if you say, you can still pass the violations over
[forgive Britain], then I ask, hath your house been burnt? Hath your
property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children
destitute of [lacking] a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost
a parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched
survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. But
if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then are you
unworthy the name of husband, father, friend or lover, and whatever may be
your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward, and the spirit
of a sycophant [kiss up]. . .
6. Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!
Every spot of the old world [Europe] is overrun with oppression. Freedom
hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her.
—Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to
depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for
mankind."
Questions about the selection from Common Sense
1. Paragraphs 2 and 3
According to Paine, what kinds of people "espouse the doctrine of reconciliation" with
England? What does Paine's language tell you about how he feels about these people?
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(PreAP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
January 1776
2. Paragraph 4
How does Paine describe life in Boston, and why does he think the situation there shows
that England should not be governing the colonies?
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3. Paragraph 5
How does Paine describe those who would reconcile with Great Britain? What does his
description of them tell you about his attitude toward them?
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What questions does Paine have for those who would reconcile with England? Why does Paine
think reconciliation is impossible?
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4. Paragraph 6
Who, in this paragraph is the "fugitive," and what is the “asylum for mankind?”
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What role [globally] does Paine assign to America?
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Activity 2: Attacking Hereditary Monarchy
Directions: Read the Excerpt below from Common Sense and answer the questions directly
below.
Excerpts from Common Sense:
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MANKIND being originally equals in the order of creation…But there is …
[a great] distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be
assigned, and that is, the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS. Male
and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of
heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted [high ranking]
above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth enquiring
into, and whether they are the means [cause] of happiness or of misery to
mankind.
To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession; and
… [it] is [a] degradation [humiliation] and lessening of ourselves… claimed
as a … right [by the King of England], is an insult and an imposition on
posterity [our future]. For all men being originally equals, no one by birth
could have a right to set up his own family in … preference to all others
for ever, and though himself might deserve some decent degree of honors …
his descendants [children] might be far too unworthy to inherit them. One of
the strongest natural proofs of the folly [mistake, stupidity] of hereditary
right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise, she would not so
frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.
Secondly, as no man... could possess any other public honors [other]
than … [those] bestowed upon him [by the public]… the givers of those honors
… have no power to give away the … [future], and though they might say "We
choose you for our head," they could not, without … injustice to their
children, say "that your children and your children's children shall reign
over ours for ever." Because such an unwise, unjust, unnatural compact
[agreement] might (perhaps) in the next succession [of a king] put them
under the government of a rogue [rascal, scoundrel] or a fool. Most wise
men, in their private sentiments, have … treated hereditary right with
contempt [disapproval]; yet it is one of those evils, which when once
established is not easily removed; many submit from fear, others from
superstition [i.e. the false belief that a king = stability in government]…
This is supposing the present race of kings in the world to have had an
honorable origin; whereas it is more than probable, that could we … trace
them to their first rise, that we should find the first of them nothing
better than the principal ruffian [thug] of some restless gang, whose savage
manners … obtained him the title of chief among plunderers; and who by
increasing in power… over-awed the quiet and defenceless … Yet his …
[supporters] could have [had] no idea of giving hereditary right to his
(PreAP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
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January 1776
descendants, because such a[n] … exclusion of themselves was incompatible
with the free and unrestrained principles they professed to live by…
hereditary succession in the early ages of monarchy could not take place as
a matter of [legal] claim, but as something casual … but as few or no
records were [kept] … in those days, and … history stuffed with fables, it
was very easy, after the lapse of a few generations, to trump up some
superstitious tale, conveniently timed… to cram hereditary right down the
throats of the … [people] … what at first was submitted to as a convenience,
was afterwards claimed as a right…
But it is not so much the absurdity as the evil of hereditary
succession which concerns mankind. Did it ensure a race of good and wise men
it would have the seal of divine authority, but as it opens a door to the
foolish, the wicked, and the improper, it hath in it the nature of
oppression. Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey,
soon grow insolent [wicked]; selected from the rest of mankind their minds
are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so
materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of
knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are
frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any …
Another evil …[of] hereditary succession is, that the throne is subject
to be possessed by a minor at any age; all which time the regency [real
ruler], acting under the cover of a king, have every opportunity … to betray
their trust. The same national misfortune happens, when a king worn out with
age and infirmity [old age], enters the last stage of human weakness. In
both these cases the public becomes a prey to every miscreant [wrongdoer,
troublemaker], who can … successfully [take advantage of] … either … age or
infancy.
The most plausible plea [strongest argument], which hath ever been
offered in favour of hereditary succession, is, that it preserves a nation
from civil wars; and were this true, it would be weighty [important,
significant]; … [but] it is the most barefaced falsity [bold lie] ever
imposed upon mankind. The whole history of England disowns the fact. Thirty
kings and two minors have reigned in that distracted kingdom since the
conquest, in which time there have been … no less than eight civil wars and
nineteen rebellions… instead of making for peace, it makes against it, and
destroys the very foundation it seems to stand on.
Questions:
This set of questions refers to specific passages in the excerpt:
1. How does Paine think the distinction between KING and SUBJECT is different from the
other societal distinctions among people? (Lines 1-8)
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2. What words does Paine use to suggest that the distinction between KING and SUBJECT is
unnatural? (Lines 10-19)
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3. What, in Paine's opinion, is wrong with "hereditary succession?" What leadership
problems, according to Paine, does "hereditary succession" create? (Lines 21-32)
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4. What does Paine think were the real "origins" of monarchy (i.e., how does he think
it probably began?)(Lines 34-39)
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5. Why does Paine think that people eventually came to believe that hereditary
monarchy was natural or correct? (Lines 39-49)
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6. Why does Paine call hereditary succession evil? What problems does he think it
creates for shaping leaders? In other words, why, according to Paine, do kings often
become “foolish,” “wicked,” and “improper?” (Lines 51-60)
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(PreAP) Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
January 1776
7. What other (age-related) concern does Paine express regarding hereditary
succession? (Lines 62-69)
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7. How does Paine refute a major argument in favor of hereditary monarchy? (Lines 7179)
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This set of questions refers to both the excerpt in Activity 1 and the excerpt in
Activity Two, and so you are to synthesize the material:
1. How would you have responded to these arguments if you were an American loyalist?
Why?
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2. Based on Paine's arguments, why did people at this time support the monarchy? Which
of the reasons you've identified in your answer to this question do you find persuasive?
Why or why not?
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3. What was it about America that made some people in 1776 so opposed to the system of
monarchy?
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4. What are the advantages of a monarchy over a democratic republic? Why might these
apparent advantages have been persuasive to some of the North American colonists in 1776?
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Assessment for Activity 2
You are going to write an “op-ed piece” for a newspaper. The setting is outside of
Boston, February 1776. Just how far from the center of revolutionary activity is your
preference. You have recently completed reading Common Sense, and this op-ed piece is
your critique of the pamphlet. Remember, as a person whose writing is published by a
newspaper, you are a member of the wealthy elite.
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You are to respond to the rhetoric [type of language] used by Paine, as well as the
ideas presented.
You can play 1 of 5 roles:
o Complete support because Paine has attempted to unite elite and common opinion
in favor of colonial independence.
o Overall support of the ideas presented by Paine, but apprehensive of getting the
masses too riled up (you don’t want them questioning your elite status next!)
o Agree that the ideas may be worthy, but you are very reluctant to support them.
You remain loyal to Britain because you know we simply cannot win our
independence.
o Complete condemnation. You think Paine’s argument is complete rubbish, and you
op-ed will explain why.
o *For a 5th role, you can fill the shoes of a commoner. You have never
contributed to a newspaper before, but you submitted your letter to the
newspaper, and they published it. You can either support or reject Paine’s
arguments. Your attitude can be complete rejection, complete support, or you
can offer your support with concerns which you will explain. Of course, you can
mildly reject Paine’s arguments while offering your concerns.
You are to create a clever title for your newspaper, indicative of the role you
choose. (E.g. choosing the first role an appropriate title would be “the
Patriot.”)
You are to create a clever attention-grabbing headline for your article.
It is to be a minimum 300 words.
If your article is hand written, please make sure it is legible.
You can simply type it, or format it to appear as a real newspaper editorial.
Examples can be found in any national or regional newspaper (e.g. New York Times,
Express Times, Hunterdon Democrat, Star Ledger, Warren Reporter).