Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was the backbone of the American Revolution because it openly defied the British government for its abuse against the colonists. The pamphlet’s powerful words were inspired by Paine’s harsh life growing up. Living in Britain for most of his life, Paine grew up in a very poor family, allowing him to observe the unfair treatment of British citizens first hand. Furthermore, Paine tried his hand at many different jobs which showed him the unbearable working conditions the workers endured due to the neglect of the British government. After Paine’s own hardships in Britain, Ben Franklin’s pitch to him about the amplitude amount possibilities in America persuaded Paine to go over there in hopes of a better life. When Paine went to America, he became an asset to the American colonies when it came to motivating the colonists to separate from Britain’s harsh and unjust rule. Thomas Paine’s view of the government fueled his arguments for a revolution in Common Sense because he saw the government as an unfair monarchy, an oppressive government to its citizens, and an unfit leader.

Thomas Paine was able to see the underlying corruption of the British government first hand both in Britain and in America and shows a disliking to the way in which monarchy was structured. In Common Sense, Paine views the constitution as a failed attempt to balance power since the most of the power was still held by the king and the aristocratic legislators instead of the elected representatives that were chosen by the common people. Paine continues with his belief that inherited power in the government is wrong and does not abide by what he calls natural law (“Common Sense” 76). He disagrees with the tradition of the child of the current king becoming the new king: “‘We choose you for our head,’ they could not, without manifest injustice to their children, say ‘that your child and your children’s children shall reign over ours for ever.’... (perhaps) in the next succession put them under the government of a rogue or a fool” (Paine 15). Likewise, Paine describes how the government is purposefully being strict so that they can have control of the people and to ensure the people’s loyalty through fear:  “The more men have to lose, the less willing are they to venture” (Paine 51). Paine opened the eyes of the American colonist by showing the people that the government is devious and manipulative. This deception from the British government would motivate the people to revolt against the government to break away from the abuse. Paine writes about how illogical Britain’s government is due to the strict abidance to a hereditary monarchy: “For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have the right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others forever, and tho' himself might deserve some decent degree of honors of his contemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them” (Paine 14). Paine argues that just because a person is elected into power, does not mean that the person’s child can rule with the same leadership and care that the parent took. Thomas Paine expressed his enmity toward the monarchy by describing the hereditary monarchy of Britain in Common Sense as a dishonorable system of government that fails to rule justly.  

Paine also incorporates his strong belief that the government oppresses its citizens through strict laws that prohibited the freedom of speech that was enforced by Britain’s brutal military. With an idea referred to as natural law, Paine believed that the American colonies should be able to be reliant on themselves and speak their minds: “Politically, he [Paine] rails against an unthinking dependence on England and on unspoken dissent in the colonies: ‘Ye that fare oppose not only the tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth’”!(Everton). His command for the people to come forward if they wanted independence demonstrates his effort to oppose the oppressive government. Additionally, Paine believed that every person deserves the same treatment and dignity regardless of his or her’s financial standpoint, referring to this belief as the natural law everyone had: “Men are attracted into society because through social cooperation certain wants can be satisfied. In this state, man possesses certain natural rights, such as liberty and equality.” (Woodress). This belief was the utmost cause for Thomas Paine’s creation of Common Sense because he believed that everyone deserves individuality and should fight for this natural law Britain was attempting to take away from them.  Paine fought for the citizens of the British colonies because he believed that the government should not have total control of the people since they are capable of making competent decisions. Thomas Paine believed every person possess common sense because every individual has a general capability to tell when something is good or bad. Common Sense was fundamentally “focused on political change through the conventional lens of communal morality.” (Everton). In other words, the pamphlet uses the majority of the colonist’s belief that the government treats the citizens as if they were incompetent as unjustifiable.  The pamphlet was intended to show that the government was wrong in the rules and regulations they enforced. The facts laid out in front of the colonists would allow the readers to think for themselves and realize that they were being taken advantage of. The whole purpose Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense was to compile all of the undeniably unfair actions the government did into one pamphlet to clearly show how the British government brought hardships and trouble to the colonies in America. He made the people question whether their loyalty to Britain was considered morally good and honorable. He figured that once the colonists realized the poor relationship between them and Britain for themselves, they would want to revolt (Everton). Paine appealed to the natural-born intelligence of the citizens and stressed the wrongful actions the government tried to take in order to oppress the people so that the colonist would be more motivated to rebel against the British government.

Lastly, Thomas Paine bluntly expresses his view of the government as an unfit leader to the very capable American colonists and needed to break away from Britain. Along with the unfair monarchy and oppressive government, the leadership received by the American colonies limited the progress America could make by enforcing ridiculously high taxes to a developing colony.  He was unique compared to other revolutionists because his propaganda was influenced by his own experiences living in Britain and motivated others by fantasizing what America could be if they separated themselves from Britain. Paine protested objectively and made factual claims, such as the constant violation of the British constitution without consequences, to show logistical reasons for rebellion (Hinz 14). Thomas Paine, at a point, believed that the Americans and Britain could fix their relationship without violence, but later withdrew that statement realizing that Britain was not going to treat its people with the dignity they deserved: “After months of heated political discussions with other colonists - and after the battles at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill-he changed his mind. By the fall of 1775, Paine felt that relations with Britain were irreparably damaged.” (Common). Paine saw the failure Britain had in leading the colonists toward prosperity and concluded that the unfit leadership made the American colonist suffer and needing separation from Britain. Witnessing the turmoil caused by a lack of leadership led to Paine’s realization that the people would have to gain independence.  Although many activists had the same mentality as him, Paine’s different approach to promoting revolution was solely due to being an Englishman and having little involvement with America. He had raw creativity in his method of writing and promoted the idea that everyone could see that the government was a poor at managing colonies because of the attempts to ignore each person’s natural ability to tell what is right and wrong. He voices that America could be its own independent land and did not have to be limited by Britain’s rule (Hinz). Paine uses rhetorical questions to come to the conclusion that the British government is not an adequate power because they do not have the capability to properly control the rapidly growing colony in America while still maintaining Britain: “To bring the matter to one point, Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? Whoever says, No, to this question, is an independent, for independency means no more than this, whether we shall make our own law, or, whether the king, the greatest enemy which this continent hath, or can have, shall tell us there shall be no laws but such as I like.” (Paine). Thomas Paine believes the colonists have two options in order to end their suffering: Break apart from Britain and become independent or make the king agree to cease the creation of unfair laws and regulations, a highly unlikely option to him. He concludes the pamphlet with a statement saying that earning freedom will be difficult, but still needs to be done: “Until an independence is declared the continent will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity.”(Paine). He closes with a warning to avoid procrastination because it would only lead to more suffering as long as no one took action to show resistance to the government. Paine’s purpose for exploiting the poor leadership of Britain’s government to the American colonists is to present the people with a cause for their hardships and an alternative, better life through revolution.

Thomas Paine was poverty-stricken in Britain as he grew up and directly experienced the cruelty of the government. Up until Paine’s encounter with Ben Franklin, he thought he would be trapped in the horrible working conditions, but once Franklin got him to American, Paine was able to develop his writing abilities and eventually publicly criticized the British government through his writings. Franklin saw Paine’s hardships in Britain and his overall intelligence asset for the rebellion that would arise. In the pamphlet, Paine voiced the cruel manner in which the government controlled the colonists, the outrageous restraints put on them, and the lack of solid leadership which made Britain’s rule unbearable to the colonists in America.  The content of Common Sense proves that Paine’s view of the government as corrupt, repressive, and unsuitable motivated him to write Common Sense in hopes that the American people would be empowered to call to arms and rise up to the manipulation and abuse of the government.