Beginning to 1820: Short Answer Quiz

Thomas Paine, From Common Sense


  1. In the first paragraph of Common Sense’s introduction, Paine admits that “Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason” (630 [full ed.] 326 [shorter ed.]). How does Paine’s initial disclaimer, and in particular its last sentence, compare with the stated goals of his pamphlet?

  1. “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will, arise which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of which their affections are interested” (631 [full ed.] 326 [shorter ed.]). Consider what you know of the Enlightenment and interpret the type of appeal Paine makes to his reader based on these sentences. Remember that the rest of the pamphlet deals with the particulars and specifics of the grievances the colonies have against the British.

  1. Many of Paine’s arguments are based on the common sense he names in his title in the form of family anecdotes. In refuting the idea that Britain has been responsible for America’s prosperity, and to break away might call a halt to it, he derides, “We may as well assert that because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for our next twenty” (632 [full ed.] 327 [shorter ed.]). In describing how the colonists ought to provide for their own future, he decides:  “As parents…we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life…” (634-35 [full ed.] 330 [shorter ed.]). Why does Paine continually use this type of anecdote to plead his case? Do you find his use persuasive?

  1. “A government of our own is our natural right: and when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced that it is infinitely wiser and safer to form a constitution of our own in a cool and deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to time and chance” (636 [full ed.] 331 [shorter ed.]). Consider that Paine is arguing for armed revolt in a way designed to make it seem rational, safe, and inevitable. What signs does he give in this passage that are designed to appeal to a reader who wishes to think him or herself “cool and deliberate”?



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