Nichole Flores HIST 105 509 Prompt 1 Word Count 695 Common Sense Thomas Paine is broadly acknowledged with being a revolutionary spark towards American independence in the late 18th century In his pamphlet Common Sense he argues against aristocratic institutions and hereditary kingships and urges for social equality and freedom It is pretty clear that Paine believes in liberalism the principle of government by which the people give up all rights and liberties to their governing body that they elect except a select few among which is the right to revolution However in this time period liberalism is pretty unheard of Paine also based many of his of his teachings and theories on John Locke in his opening page Paine states that society in every state is a blessing but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil Paine 65 Paine sheds some enlightenment on the common thought that England is Americas parent country with their best interest at heart England has an every man for himself mindset and Americans are so blinded by the thought of England being their parent country that they don t realize that England is only helps them because it is benefitting England at the same time If anything Europe is Americas parent county not solely England Paine acknowledges the common argument against American independence when he says America hath flourished under her former connexion with Great Britain and that this some connexion is necessary towards her future happiness Paine 83 He then proceeds to negate that statement in the same paragraph by offering the analogy that if a child has been raises merely upon milk then it is never to have meat Paine also makes it clear that Americans should be able to revolt against a government that is not actively seeking their interests and he stand to prove how capable America would be of further success on their own He continually gives his opinion that America would have been better off if there had been no European power involved and even further states that her motive was interest not attachment she did not protect us from our enemies on our account but from her enemies on her own account Paine 84 It was no secret that Britain had utilized America to ever extent for raw materials including fur timer and tobacco Paine believes that if separated from Britain we would be able to economically expand and grow into another world superpower England is run by a monarchy Not only does Paine disagree with this form of government but so does God Paine backs up why England s monarchy is not just with more than enough biblical justifications The monarchy may be simple but it is also disgraceful The state of a king shuts him from the world yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly unnaturally opposing and destroying each other prove the whole character to be absurd and useless Paine 69 England s checks and balances system overall just empowers the king at the end of the day Having a king does not prevent governmental tyranny Tyranny is pretty much the definition of having a king tyranny a government in which all power belongs to one person The king can check the commons by rejecting their bills if the commons check the king by withholding supplies Therefore showing how the king becomes superior every time The king also does everything but bring peace into the world Instead of a king making peace it actually made against it and destroyed the foundation that it stood on There had been no less than eight civil wars and nineteen rebellions Paine 79 while we had a king in charge That alone obviously shows how the king vamped the tension and didn t help at all in protecting order from civil war and mob anarchy In short monarchy and succession have laid but the world in blood and ashes Paine 80 Overall it is not hard to see that Paine is strongly urging American leaders to declare independence because we need to control the necessary evil of government Now is the time and America is at its peak to blossom Out with the monarchy and in with peace