Common Sense: Paine's cry for the Necessary The pamphlet "Common Sense," written by radical and revolutionary Thomas Paine, not only changed and encouraged the thinking of his contemporaries, but also helped shape the governmental structure of our present world. ... His sharing a common tread with the common folk made his literature make more sense. ... To begin, Thomas Paine notes the many problems with monarchy, specifically in Britain. ... Thus, "Common sense will tell us, that the power which hath endeavored to subdue us, is of all others the most improper to defend us" (...

• Word Count: 782
• Approx Pages: 3

King says, "this note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be granted the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness- and " my country tis of thee and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true- (p40,41). ... The metaphor of despair as a mountain and finding a single stone, hope being this stone, gives the reader the sense of how exhausting, painful, demanding, and awesome achieving freedom would be. ... King uses the words we' and our' when he means to address his audience, classifying himself as a common Afr...

• Word Count: 788
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Hobbes notes that there are three natural causes of conflict among people in the state of nature: distrust of one another, competition for limited resources, and glory (to preserve one's reputation): "So that in the nature of man, we find three principle causes of quarrel. ... Hobbes describes the state of nature, in which no common power exists, as one of continuous war and violence, and of fear and death. According to Hobbes, in such a condition, "it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in a condition which is called war; a...

• Word Count: 4512
• Approx Pages: 18
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Right of nature: self-preservation ("seek peace and follow it") - Man is naturally in a state of war without a common power to keep everyone in check. ... XVII Of the Causes, Generation, and Definition of Commonwealth - Hobbes concludes that there must be some common power, some sovereign authority, to force people to uphold the contract. ... - as if every man should say to every man, "I Authorize and give up my Right of Governing my selfe, to this Man, or to this Assembly of men, on this condition, that thou give up the right to him, and authorize all his actions in like matter - This ...

• Word Count: 2051
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

To Locke the state of nature was "men living together according to reason without a common superior on earth, with authority to judge between them- (Chapter 19, Two Treatises). ... One can even sense that Locke is answering Hobbes, i.e. ... And the objective eye would look past the Fourth of July brouhaha and note that indeed very little did actually change from 1775 to 1782, other than power was centralized in the continental United States. ...

• Word Count: 1544
• Approx Pages: 6

Thomas Paine played a pivotal role in galvanizing American thought, with his revolutionary pamphlet, Common Sense, which spoke of such radical ideas as natural rights and independence. ... On that note, we are constantly reminded that our government, our politicians and our beaurocrats all act in the best interest of the public. ...

• Word Count: 7038
• Approx Pages: 28
• Grade Level: Undergraduate