Thomas Paine wrote this document because of a want for independence. It appeared around 1776 and quickly sold about 150,000 copies.
Thomas Paine begins by telling us that men from all levels of society were involved in the controversy of the struggle between England and America. He stated that all of them had different reasons and ideas for being involved, yet none of these men had been successful in solving their problem. Using violence was the lat thing that they could thing of to settle their dispute; the king chose this option, and America accepted this idea. .
Paine then tell us that resolution with Great Britain would be good for the colonies but that would never happen. Before Common Sense was published, no one was fighting for independence, there were fighting only for their rights. Paine declares that you have to look at both sides of the argument. One side being that if the colonies were to stay connected with England only bad things would come. If they became independent, they would have to be ready to be on their own. .
Paine tells us that he heard that if the colonies kept their relationship with Great Britain they would flourish once the dispute was settled. He objects that nothing can be more deceptive than an argument like this. He compares it to a child who has survived on milk doesn't need to try meat. He says that America would have been even more prosperous if England hadn't had any connection with us at all. Paine declares that as along as Europeans have to eat, America will always have a market by which to make a living. .
Nevertheless, Paine does admit and give in to the arguments of some people, saying that England has protected America. On the other side, Thomas says that England would have protected any country that helped her make a profit through trade and tax. They believed for a long time that England wanted to protect them for proper reasons, but this wasn't the case.
