Pamphlet's original cover
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| Author | Thomas Paine |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Published | January 10, 1776 |
| Pages | 49 |
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Official name | "Common Sense" |
| Type | City |
| Criteria |
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| Designated | 1993 |
| Location | SE corner of S 3rd St. & Thomas Paine Place (Chancellor St), Philadelphia 39.94041°N 75.14645°W |
| Marker Text | At his print shop here, Robert Bell published the first edition of Thomas Paine's revolutionary pamphlet in January 1776. Arguing for a republican form of government under a written constitution, it played a key role in rallying American support for independence. |
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution, and became an immediate sensation.
It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time (2.5 million), it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. As of 2006, it remains the all-time best-selling American title and is still in print today.
Common Sense made public a persuasive and impassioned case for independence, which had not yet been given serious intellectual consideration. Paine connected independence with common dissenting Protestant beliefs as a means to present a distinctly American political identity and structured Common Sense as if it were a sermon. Historian Gordon S. Wood described Common Sense as "the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era."
The text was translated into French by Antoine Gilbert Griffet de Labaume in 1790.
Publication
Paine arrived in the American colonies in November 1774, shortly before the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Though the colonies and Great Britain had commenced hostilities against
one another, the thought of independence was not initially entertained.
Writing of his early experiences in the colonies in 1778, Paine "found
the disposition of the people such, that they might have been led by a
thread and governed by a reed. Their attachment to Britain was
obstinate, and it was, at that time, a kind of treason to speak against
it. Their ideas of grievance operated without resentment, and their
single object was reconciliation." Paine quickly engrained himself in the Philadelphia newspaper business, and began writing Common Sense in late 1775 under the working title of Plain Truth.
Though it began as a series of letters to be published in various
Philadelphia papers, it grew too long and unwieldy to publish as
letters, leading Paine to select the pamphlet form.
Benjamin Rush
recommended the publisher Robert Bell, promising Paine that although
other printers might balk at the content of the pamphlet, Bell would not
hesitate or delay its printing. Bell zealously promoted the pamphlet in
Philadelphia's papers, and demand grew so high as to require a second
printing.
Paine, overjoyed with its success, endeavored to collect his share of
the profits and donate them to purchase mittens for General Montgomery's
troops, then encamped in frigid Quebec.
However, when Paine's chosen intermediaries audited Bell's accounts,
they found that the pamphlet actually had made zero profits. Incensed,
Paine ordered Bell not to proceed on a second edition, as he had planned
several appendices to add to Common Sense. Bell ignored that and began advertising a "new edition".
While Bell believed that the advertisement would convince Paine
to retain his services, it had the opposite effect. Paine secured the
assistance of the Bradford brothers, publishers of the Pennsylvania Evening Post, and released his new edition, featuring several appendices and additional writings.
Bell began working on a second edition. This set off a month-long
public debate between Bell and the still-anonymous Paine, conducted
within the pages and advertisements of the Pennsylvania Evening Post,
with each party charging the other with duplicity and fraud. Paine and
Bell published several more editions through the end of their public
squabble.
The publicity generated by the initial success and compounded by
the publishing disagreements propelled the pamphlet to incredible sales
and circulation. Common Sense sold almost 100,000 copies in 1776,
and according to Paine, 120,000 copies were sold in the first three
months. One biographer estimates that 500,000 copies sold in the first
year (in both America and Europe, predominantly France and Britain), and
another writes that Paine's pamphlet went through 25 published editions
in the first year alone.
However, Trish Loughran disputes the figures as implausible because of
the literate population at the time and estimated the far upper limit as
75,000 copies.
Aside from the printed pamphlet itself, there were many
handwritten summaries and whole copies circulated. Paine also granted
publishing rights to nearly every imprint which requested them,
including several international editions. It was immensely popular in France, where it was published without its diatribes against monarchy. At least one newspaper printed the entire pamphlet: the Connecticut Courant in its issue of February 19, 1776.
Writing in 1956, Richard Gimbel estimated, in terms of circulation and
impact, that an "equivalent sale today, based on the present population
of the United States, would be more than six-and-one-half million copies
within the short space of three months".
For nearly three months, Paine managed to maintain his anonymity,
even during Bell's potent newspaper polemics. His name did not become
officially connected with the independence controversy until March 30,
1776.
Paine never recouped the profits that he felt were to him from Bell's
first edition. Ultimately, he lost money on the Bradford printing as
well, and because he decided to repudiate his copyright, he never
profited from Common Sense.
Sections
The first and subsequent editions divided the pamphlet into four sections.
I. Of the Origin and Design of Government in General, With Concise Remarks on the English Constitution
In his first section, Paine related common Enlightenment theories of the state of nature to establish a foundation for republican government. Paine began the section by making a distinction between society and government
and argues that government is a "necessary evil." He illustrates the
power of society to create and maintain happiness in man through the
example of a few isolated people who find it easier to live together
rather than apart, thus creating society. As society continues to grow, a
government becomes necessary to prevent the natural evil Paine saw in
man.
To promote civil society through laws and account for the
impossibility of all people meeting centrally to make laws,
representation and elections become necessary. As that model was clearly
intended to mirror the situation of the colonists at the time of
publication, Paine went on to consider the English constitution.
Paine found two tyrannies in the English constitution:
monarchical and aristocratic tyranny in the king and peers, who rule by
heredity and contribute nothing to the people. Paine criticized the
English constitution by examining the relationship between the king, the peers, and the commons.
II. Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession
The second section considers monarchy
first from a biblical perspective and then from a historical
perspective. He begins by arguing that since all men are equal at
creation, the distinction between kings and subjects is a false one.
Paine then quotes a sequence of biblical passages to refute the divine right of Kings. After citing Matthew 22:21, he highlights Gideon’s refusal to heed the people’s call to rule, citing Judges 8:22. He then reproduces the majority of 1 Samuel 8
(wherein Samuel relays God’s objections to the people’s demand for a
king) and concludes: “the Almighty hath here entered his protest against
monarchical government...”
Paine then examines some of the problems that kings and monarchies have caused in the past and concludes:
In England a king hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which in plain terms, is to impoverish the nation and set it together by the ears. A pretty business indeed for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshipped into the bargain! Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.
— Thomas Paine
Paine also attacks one type of "mixed state," the constitutional monarchy promoted by John Locke,
in which the powers of government are separated between a Parliament or
Congress, which makes the laws, and a monarch, who executes them. The
constitutional monarchy, according to Locke, would limit the powers of
the king sufficiently to ensure that the realm would remain lawful
rather than easily becoming tyrannical. According to Paine, however,
such limits are insufficient. In the mixed state, power tends to
concentrate into the hands of the monarch, eventually permitting him to
transcend any limitations placed upon him. Paine questions why the
supporters of the mixed state, since they concede that the power of the
monarch is dangerous, wish to include a monarch in their scheme of
government in the first place.
III. Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs
Constitution of the United States as proposed by Thomas Paine in Common Sense
In the third section, Paine examines the hostilities between England and the American colonies and argues that the best course of action is independence. Paine proposes a Continental Charter (or Charter of the United Colonies) that would be an American Magna Carta.
Paine writes that a Continental Charter "should come from some
intermediate body between the Congress and the people" and outlines a
Continental Conference that could draft a Continental Charter.
Each colony would hold elections for five representatives, who would be
accompanied by two members of the assembly of colonies, for a total of
seven representatives from each colony in the Continental Conference.
The Conference would then meet and draft a Continental Charter that
would secure "freedom and property to all men, and… the free exercise of
religion". The Continental Charter would also outline a new national government, which Paine thought would take the form of a Congress.
Paine suggested that a congress may be created in the following
way: each colony should be divided in districts, and each district would
"send a proper number of delegates to Congress."
Paine thought that each colony should send at least 30 delegates to
Congress and that the total number of delegates in Congress should be at
least 390. The Congress would meet annually and elect a president. Each
colony would be put into a lottery; the president would be elected, by
the whole congress, from the delegation of the colony that was selected
in the lottery. After a colony was selected, it would be removed from
subsequent lotteries until all of the colonies had been selected, at
which point the lottery would start anew. Electing a president or
passing a law would require three-fifths of the congress.
IV. On the Present Ability of America, With Some Miscellaneous Reflections
The
fourth section of the pamphlet includes Paine's optimistic view of
America's military potential at the time of the revolution. For example,
he spends pages describing how colonial shipyards, by using the large
amounts of lumber available in the country, could quickly create a navy
that could rival the Royal Navy.
Impact
Heavy advertisement by both Bell and Paine and the immense publicity created by their publishing quarrel made Common Sense an immediate sensation not only in Philadelphia
but also across the Thirteen Colonies. Early "reviewers" (mainly letter
excerpts published anonymously in colonial newspapers) touted the clear
and rational case for independence put forth by Paine. One Marylander
wrote to the Pennsylvania Evening Post on February 6, 1776, that
"if you know the author of COMMON SENSE, tell him he has done wonders
and worked miracles. His stile [sic] is plain and nervous; his facts are true; his reasoning, just and conclusive".
The author went on to claim that the pamphlet was highly persuasive in
swaying people towards independence. The mass appeal, one later reviewer
noted, was caused by Paine's dramatic calls for popular support of
revolution, "giv[ing] liberty to every individual to contribute
materials for that great building, the grand charter of American
Liberty". Paine's vision of a radical democracy, unlike the checked and balanced nation later favored by conservatives like John Adams, was highly attractive to the popular audience which read and reread Common Sense. In the months leading up to the Declaration of Independence,
many more reviewers noted that the two main themes (direct and
passionate style and calls for individual empowerment) were decisive in
swaying the Colonists from reconciliation to rebellion. The pamphlet was
also highly successful because of a brilliant marketing tactic planned
by Paine. He and Bell timed the first edition to be published at around
the same time as a proclamation on the colonies by King George III, hoping to contrast the strong, monarchical message with the heavily anti-monarchical Common Sense. Luckily, the speech and the first advertisement of the pamphlet appeared on the same day within the pages of the Pennsylvania Evening Post.
While Paine focused his style and address towards the common
people, the arguments he made touched on prescient debates of morals,
government, and the mechanisms of democracy.
That gave Common Sense a "second life" in the very public
call-and-response nature of newspaper debates made by intellectual men
of letters throughout Philadelphia. Paine's formulation of "war for an
idea" led to, as Eric Foner
describes it, "a torrent of letters, pamphlets, and broadsides on
independence and the meaning of republican government... attacking or
defending, or extending and refining Paine's ideas".
John Adams, who would succeed George Washington to become the new nation's second president, in his Thoughts on Government wrote that Paine's ideal sketched in Common Sense
was "so democratical, without any restraint or even an attempt at any
equilibrium or counter poise, that it must produce confusion and every
evil work." Others, such as the writer calling himself "Cato," denounced Paine as dangerous and his ideas as violent.
Paine was also an active and willing participant in what would become
essentially a six-month publicity tour for independence. Writing as "The
Forester," he responded to Cato and other critics in the pages of
Philadelphian papers with passion and declared again in sweeping
language that their conflict was not only with Great Britain but also
with the tyranny inevitably resulting from monarchical rule.
Later scholars have assessed the influence of Common Sense in several ways. Some, like A. Owen Aldridge, emphasize that Common Sense
could hardly be said to embody a particular ideology, and that "even
Paine himself may not have been cognizant of the ultimate source of many
of his concepts." They make the point that much of the pamphlet's value
came as a result of the context in which it was published.
Eric Foner wrote that the pamphlet touched a radical populace at the
height of their radicalism, which culminated in Pennsylvania with a new
constitution aligned along Paine's principles.
Many have noted that Paine's skills were chiefly in persuasion and
propaganda and that no matter the content of his ideas, the fervor of
his conviction and the various tools he employed on his readers (such as
asserting his Christianity when he really was a Deist), Common Sense was bound for success.
Still others emphasized the uniqueness of Paine's vision, with Craig
Nelson calling him a "pragmatic utopian" who de-emphasized economic
arguments in favor of moralistic ones, thus giving credence to the
argument that Common Sense was propaganda.
Each argument is in some way true, and together, they portray Common Sense
as an impressive piece of propaganda advocating a distinct and timely
action and set of principles. Coupling them with the immense publicity
and readership created by both the publishing dispute and the newspaper
debates, Common Sense was an important stepping stone towards independence.
Quotes
- Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.
- Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; 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 throughout the dominions.
- Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a strong and natural proof, that the authority of the one, over the other, was never the design of Heaven. The time likewise at which the continent was discovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled encreases the force of it. 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, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety.
- But where says some is the King of America? I’ll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain.
- For myself, I fully and conscientiously believe, that it is the will of the Almighty, that there should be diversity of religious opinions among us: It affords a larger field for our Christian kindness. Were we all of one way of thinking, our religious dispositions would want matter for probation; and on this liberal principle, I look on the various denominations among us, to be like children of the same family, differing only, in what is called, their Christian names.
