Reply to Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”

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 I live and make decisions instead of one person who claims to be higher ranked. I feel that we as people work and strive to survive, know what we want from a government. People that make up a society have a right to make their own laws. The British constitution is too complex and the branches of the government are not checking each other. The monarchy has sole power in what is done. The monarchy does not know how people work and live, survive in the colonies. I applaud you on what you said about how there should be no kings in this world. A king that rules over people is like God. The practice of having a king is sinful. Man is supposed to have to have only God ruling over them. Not a mere mortal. I believe that the problems stemming from the monarchy is because it is evil and not what we should be doing. Kings feel that they are superior and their blood is richer than ours. Even their children take over without question from the people. Ever man in equal so one man should not be complete ruler over all. The only one who should be over men is God. I felt that America has grown and flourished under Britain’s rule. Until reading “Common Sense”, I felt that we should stay under Britain’s protection. I was concerned over taxing since it is hard enough to survive and make enough to the essentials for my family. It is still my concern that if we break from Britain, we will not have the security that we once had. You mentioned that Britain’s enemies are our enemies until we break away from them. We are not protected since Britain’s enemies are our enemies. If we break away, I believe that we will need many alliances to provide protection among ourselves. We will need to be strong enough to unite and to be alliances with others. Your writings about America needs to rule and give the lands to their own opened my eyes. The lands should not be given out to the British elite but given to the common man who will work the land and deserves the land. As we have grown from the first colonists that came over from Britian, we will grow. We will need the land to become more prosperous. One of my concerns which you mentioned is financial burden this will bring among the people. We barely have enough to survive. The monarchy forcing higher taxes on us will be our downfall as a society. We cannot survive if we are giving our money to the monarchy. I am worried that breaking away from Britain will also cause us to lose money and our way for providing our families. You mentioned that we have land that can be sold to help us with our debt. I believe as a young society, we do not have any debt but we should not start obtaining debt due to the fight. We do have the men and natural resources to go to war with Britain. We are united and are at the size where we will be united together. We work together and are united for the cause. We are able to raise a navy that is far superior to Britons. We do need our own military that will protect us not just from Britain but from others. Your calculations on what it would cost, 3.5 million pounds, is a lot of money and I am concerned that America will be able to afford it even though we have land and natural resources. We are still very young and very vulnerable. Though the men are ready to fight for the cause, I am worry about the consequences in going to war. In working the lands and knowing other people in my area, we are ready for a change. We want our children to be able to grow and not have to be under the monarchy rule. My family came to this land to for a change, for the freedom to rule and making own choices. Our society needs to be built on what the people want not the rule of one person.

Sincerely,

Work Cited
Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. Philadelphia: printed. And sold by W. and T. Bradford [1776]; ushistory.org, 1999. http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/singlehtml.htm. October 17, 2009.