Common Sense Was Written by Thomas Paine

"Common Sense" was written by Thomas Paine in 1776 after he quickly sided with the colonists in their controversy with Britain. The pamphlet delves into the understanding of the difference between society and government. Paine is considered to be one of the "founding fathers" of America, having a large impact on the American Revolution. His work also included writings about Deism and the French Revolution.

Common Sense focuses mainly on the distinctions between society and government, including the distinctions between society and governments origins. This work wasn't entirely difficult to understand, however there were a few points throughout the book that seemed repetitive. Paine seemed to stress the point of separating society and government excessively, something that in my opinion cannot be done without having certain consequences. Thomas Paine's writing sends the message that society is an overall savior, while government is wickedness. This may be so in some cases, but a truly civilized nation cannot function without a government. Society is the overall relationship between fellow members in a community. Just as much as society is needed for people to get through their everyday lives, a government is needed to make laws and to regulate them.

I agree with Paine when he wrote about how a colony needs to have representatives. I also agree with him that the representatives should be elected to office. A point that I would stress more then Paine did is that as a colony grows in population, the amount of representatives should grow accordingly. Through having representatives in a society, this will allow for the people to have a say. If people have a say in the society they live in, there will be less problems. Paine suggests that freedom and security come from society, but without government there is total chaos between those involved in that society.

One philosophy of Paine was that America should deal in gold and silver, and not have to deal with paper currency. I think that's a foolish idea because paper currency is backed up by gold and silver, and that allows people to not have to worry about dealing strictly in gold and silver. Another philosophy of Paine was that a navy doesn't need to have such a large number of sailors to operate ships. He said that a ship can be sailed just the same, and more men can be put to other use if the number of sailors aboard ships were lowered.

The period of the language used in Common Sense was a little confusing. The book was written in old English, being that Thomas Paine was an Englishman. Some sayings throughout the book, and certain words confused me with the point that Paine was trying to make.

There were certain ideas in Common Sense, which raised questions for me. One subject that raised questions was the situation with the British navy. They book said that the British navy was the largest and most powerful navy in the world during that time, each boat consisting of many guns. Paine said that America should have the larger navy of the two countries because America has all the raw materials needed to raise such