Thomas Paine: Common Sense

Questions for Further Study

• 1. The overall impact of Common Sense has been likened to that of the 1848 publication of The Communist Manifesto, in which Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels heralded the possibility of bringing about a classless society. Compare and contrast the two documents, focusing on any one of the aspects considered in this chapter (Context, Author, Audience, and so on).
• 2. Paine makes several statements regarding national debt, perhaps most notably, “A national debt is a national bond; and when it bears no interest, is in no case a grievance” and “as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully.” Reflect on the American national debt in the modern era. How was the situation in the late eighteenth century different from that of the twenty-first century? Do Paine's remarks bear relevance in the modern era? What would Paine say about the present situation?
• 3. Paine notes, “The present time, likewise, is that peculiar time which never happens to a nation but once, viz., the time of forming itself into a government.” Answer one of the following two questions: (a) If the opportunity arose to alter whatever aspects of the American government seemed to need alteration, as slightly or drastically as necessary, what would you suggest be changed? (b) If you could oversee the inception of an entirely new country according to your own ideals, in the location of your choosing (be it real or imaginary), what form would your government take?
• 4. As previously discussed, in Common Sense, Paine makes frequent reference to “nature” and “natural law,” which was perhaps especially wise given the connections that existed between the human being and nature in the Revolutionary era. How has that relationship changed over the two and a quarter centuries since? Would references to “natural law” bear as much weight for modern Americans? What ideological concepts might instead touch modern Americans most deeply? That is, if one sought to persuade the vast majority of Americans with regard to some revolutionary concept, what notions might a polemicist most widely draw upon?
• 5. Means of communication have greatly evolved since the eighteenth century, most dramatically in the decades following the conception of the Internet. Discuss the effectiveness and social implications of modern forms of mass communication, including newspapers, books, television, film, e-mail, and Web sites (as well as any alternate media of relevance). Conclude by discussing the implications of this vast array of communicative options regarding the propagation of ideas throughout the masses. Would a revolutionary such as Paine have found disseminating his ideas more or less difficult in the modern era?