Common Sense by Thomas Paine (Book Review)

Common Sense
By Thomas Paine
Published by Amazon Digital Services, 2017
Ebook Price: Free with Amazon Prime

Written a few months before the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense was a pamphlet that was meant to ready the Colonies for a war with England. Thomas Paine lays out his argument using "common sense" and reason.

Paine believed that the Colonies had outgrown their "Mother Country" and that it was time to break loose and be its own nation. According to him, we were under the thumb of the King and being abused and used for his own ends. There was no longer any good happening under his rule. The king was just getting us into foreign wars that we had nothing to do with and no stake in.

The author thought the three reasons a government should exist is for security, freedom, and especially the protection of religious liberties. England had failed miserably at the first two. What could England do to protect the colonies? They were thousands of miles away. And since the King's power was absolute, he WAS the law and could take away any rights at any time.

For those colonists that were wavering in resolve and wanting to reconcile with Britain, Paine argued that they had already tried more peaceful means to solve their problems. He also believed that the fight for independence was going to happen sooner or later. It's just a natural progression throughout history that colonies at some point want their freedom. It's better to get it over with.

Common Sense was something I'd always heard about in my American History classes in high school and college but I bet most people are like me and have never read it. I didn't even have an idea what it was about except knowing that it had to do with the American Revolution.

It was an interesting read and I never got bored or wanted to put it down but a lot of the information was, like the title, common sense. Of course kings are the bane of freedom and always have been. Of course we need a more representative government to curb tyranny. Of course colonies always break away from their origin countries. But I'm sure living in those times where kings were the norm, these ideas were NOT easily apparent. Democracies were a radical idea way against the grain. So it took someone like Thomas Paine to broach these subjects to the public and give reasons, propagandized as they were, for breaking from England.

I'm sure the founders of our country would be appalled by how many foreign wars and military engagements we've been involved in in the past 100 years. That's one of the things that really stood out to me in this book. That the founders didn't want to get involved in European wars. They wanted to take care of their own country and that was enough. Paine would be very happy that we are the #1 economy in the world because that was his vision. For our power to be economic, not necessarily military.

Worth reading if you're into American History but in the end its a political tract.

Just an added note: With Amazon Prime, you can get the Kindle version of this book PLUS the Audible version for free!

My Grade: B