Jason walked into my living room yesterday to see me reading Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Upon seeing the title, he told me I couldn’t put it up here because it’s a pamphlet, not a book. Hah! I spit in his face! It has an ISBN, so it’s a book. (Well, and many things without ISBNs are books too…)
Common Sense is a polemic in favor of independence. Paine’s primary argument was that the war had gone far enough that reconciliation was not possible. Why go to war just to repeal a few acts of parliament. And England would not be going so far as to fundamentally change the governance of the colonies. So, in Paine’s view, independence was the only option. He also had a lot to say about the propriety of a monarchy, particularly that of an underage king. In his view it wasn’t natural and the Bible prohibited kings.
Title: Common sense
Author: Thomas Paine
Publisher: Dover
Format: Paperback
Length: 58 p.
Publication date: 1997 (originally February 1776)
ISBN-10: 0-486-29602-4
Subject: United States — Politics and government — 1775-1783
Subject: Political science — History — 18th century
Subject: Monarchy
LC classification: E211.P1198 1997
