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Common Sense
About this book
"In Common Sense a writer found his moment to change the world," Alan Taylor writes in his introduction. When Paine's attack on the British mixed constitution of kings, lords, and commons was published in January 1776, fighting had already erupted between British troops and American Patriots, but many Patriots still balked at seeking independence. "By discrediting the sovereign king," Taylor argues, "Paine made independence thinkable—as he relocated sovereignty from a royal family to the collective people of a republic." Paine's American readers could conclude that they stood at "the center of a new and coming world of utopian potential." The John Harvard Library edition follows the text of the expanded edition printed by the shop of Benjamin Towne for W. and T. Bradford of Philadelphia.
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Yes, you can access Common Sense by Thomas Paine in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Political Freedom. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Contents
- Introduction by Alan Taylor
- Note on the Text
- Chronology of Thomas Paine’s Life
- Common Sense
- Introduction
- Of the Origin and Design of Government in General. With Concise Remarks on the English Constitution
- Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession
- Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs
- Of the Present Ability of America, with Some Miscellaneous Reflexions
- Appendix, with an Address to the People Called Quakers
- Selected Bibliography