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This book is a classic for a reason; the man behind it is virulent in his message, and yet keeps it focused and steady on his purpose.
"Common Sense" tells what Americans these days truly do consider to be common sense, but in the times of Imperialism and vulgar displays of power, would have been outrageous.
The sheer language and brute honesty Thomas Paine uses I think takes a load of courage and stubborn defiance to put to word, as it not only targets and properly bashes England, but takes several justified shots at virtually every great nation and civilization in Human history.
He tells a story from the Bible of Gideon, who the people of Israel beg for him to be their king, and he refuses, for he (and Thomas Paine) consider that any king that is not God is a fraud and a blasphemer, for there can be no king but God.
This is the message Paine brutally and viciously puts to task in the next several pages, where he tells of how a monarchy is inherently corrupt, and subject to the whims and brutality of the king. He gives some startling, if uncited, examples of how the KINGDOMS of France and England and Spain had been in almost non-stop war back and forth with one another, and yet other European Republics have enjoyed decades of peace.
Paine clearly attempts to associate that monarchies lead to a state of near total war, as the King wants what the King wants, and the King uses the people and their lives and money to get it. Paine even targets the Papacy for this practice.
He then goes about establishing what is ideal about a representative system of government which we would end up adopting for our nation today, and how best it would be to endow our nation with power that never broaches the level of kingdom.
Even after 200+ years of change in language, the literature of the book/pamphlet is nowhere near the dense and flowery literature of a Shakespeare or the like, and his metaphors are vivid and relatable. He speaks with a common tongue that can be understood by virtually anyone in his time, and by many people in this time, though unfortunately I cannot imagine certain people of lesser intelligence being able to grasp it all without help.
The only real problem I have may be a problem of the edition published (Big Fish Publishing Inc January 27, 2006) or perhaps it was how it was originally written, for wont of italics, but a great many instances in Paine's text contains words that are fully capitalized. In most cases, this makes sense as the words capitalized are intended to be strongly emphasized. However, in some cases, it's either excessive (as in capitalizing every line of dialogue he paraphrases from the Bible), or just plain incoherent that it turns out sounding like he SCREAMS certain words at random that have no real need or business being particularly emphasized.
It seems obvious enough to us now, but the ideas put forth by Thomas Paine in this book are truly revolutionary, and to do so in a climate where open war has pretty much begun, published first in January 1776.
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"Common Sense" Overview
Besides the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense is perhaps the most important document of the American Revolutionary period. Paine's essay provides the ideologial and practical basis for America's seperation from Great Britain.
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