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Thomas Paine's Argument Is Grounded In Common Sense

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As indicated by the title of his work, Paine claims that his argument is grounded in common sense or reason. In what sense is it "common?" Does it legitimize democracy? How? Paine’s Argument for the independence of America is grounded in common sense in that his ideas are easy to understand and agree with. Throughout his writing Paine makes many different arguments based on simple common sense such as the fact that England is only a small island while America is a large continent. In addition, Paine makes the argument that it is unreasonable to expect America to stay under the control of England because of the fact that most Americans were descended from the English. Paine states that by that type of reasoning England should be ruled by …show more content…

The truth is that through the nature of humanity, government is necessary to maintain control and peace. Societies are created by groups of people who find that living together and helping each other is better than attempting to live on their own. However, once a society gets very large with many different types of people it becomes necessary to implement some kind of government to suppress the inherent evil in man and to maintain peace and happiness. Humans need each other to succeed because it is more effective to work together than alone. This truth embraces all of human experiences because it is human nature to want to work together and this truth uses that part of humanity to justify the need for a government. 5.)What is the nature of law as described in Common Sense? Over whom is it binding and why? Common Sense if basically a rant on how badly the English have treated the colonists and why they should attempt to become independent from British rule. In his writing Paine states that in a monarchy the king is the law so in a free country the law should be king. In the colonies the king was the law for the colonists and the law was unfair and cruel. Paine thought that the law was unfair and cruel as the king was decimating the colonies with harsh taxes and regulations. The laws imposed by the king were binding to all the colonists including himself. 6.) For Paine, what is the relationship between law and

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