Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Reply to Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”

By: Dan Sherwood

Dear Mr. Paine,

I am writing to you in response to your pamphlet “Common Sense”. There are many ideas that you have that I agree with while some ideas are cause for concern. Being a farmer, I am concerned how the colonies will develop and how my family will live. We came over to this country for a new start and more opportunities for my family.

In the first part of your writings, you write about government and society. You write that people tend to confuse government with society. While I agree that society is something that we all should strive for, I feel that a government is not “a necessary evil.” I believe that there should be a government. Due to different lives and employments, we think differently. Even if all of us act in a moral way, there still needs to be laws that govern us. I want this protection for my farm and without a government, we will not feel safe in our own homes and money, security, and ways of life will be uncertain. Government is necessary to protect life and property.

You write that America is separated from Britain by the sea and therefore secluded from the rest of society. While this might appear to be true, many have come from Britain and set up the ways of the British. There are many European powers that are also in America. To say we are separated from the rest of the world is incorrect. Our families wanted a different life and are why most of us are in America but we still have many of the same ways as Britons.

I agree with your opinion that representation and not the monarchy is what is essential to “The strength of government and the happiness of the governed.” You state that “the more simple anything is the less likely it is to be disordered.” We need to have a government that is simple, protects the people, and provide for the needs of everyone and not give power to people in higher positions. Being a farmer, I want to have the same say in how...