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Common Sense Thomas Paine

Common Sense By Thomas Paine

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

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Common Sense Summary

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

When Common Sense was published in January 1776, it sold, by some estimates, a stunning 150,000 copies in the colonies. What exactly made this pamphlet so appealing? This is a question not only about the state of mind of Paine's audience, but also about the role of public opinion and debate, the function of the press, and the shape of political culture in the colonies.

This Broadview edition of Paine's famous pamphlet attempts to reconstruct the context in which it appeared and to recapture the energy and passion of the dispute over the political future of the British colonies in North America. Included along with the text of Common Sense are some of the contemporary arguments for and against the Revolution by John Dickinson, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson; materials from the debate that followed the pamphlet's publication showing the difficulty of the choices facing the colonists; the Declaration of Independence; and the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776.

Common Sense Reviews

Edward Larkin's new edition of Common Sense will be welcomed by readers. With a lively and detailed introduction, thorough scholarly notes, and a representative selection of the contemporaneous responses it provoked, this should become the definitive new edition of Paine's classic tract. - Richard Boyd, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The big problem with Paine is that current readers have trouble seeing why his ideas did not seem so common-sensical to eighteenth-century people. Larkin addresses this problem with supplementary texts that focus on the debate over independence in America; along with his interesting and approachable introduction, the combination makes for the best edition of Paine's Common Sense available. - Daniel Vickers, University of California, San Diego

There are many fine editions of this indispensable American text. But this one is richer and more rewarding than the others. It invites readers to encounter Common Sense in the fullness of its historical setting. And as it does, it makes plain how utterly Tom Paine towered above all other Revolutionary writers. - Michael W. Zuckerman, University of Pennsylvania

Edward Larkin's new edition of Tom Paine's Common Sense will be a boon to teachers and students. It thoughtfully contextualizes Paine's pamphlet while highlighting the singularity of his voice. Most importantly, it will aid students in placing Common Sense in that absolutely central eighteenth-century culture war: the beginning of the unfinished argument over modern democracy. - Michael Meranze, University of California, San Diego

About Thomas Paine

Edward Larkin is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Delaware. He is the author of Thomas Paine and the Literature of Revolution (Cambridge, 2005). His current scholarship focuses on loyalism and empire in the early United States.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Works Cited
Thomas Paine: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Texts

Common Sense

Appendix A: Antecedents to Common Sense

  1. [John Adams], A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, Boston Gazette (1765)
  2. [John Dickinson], Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767)
  3. Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)

Appendix B: Responses to Common Sense

  1. [Charles Inglis], The True Interest of America Impartially Stated (1776)
  2. Candidus [James Chalmers], Plain Truth (1776)
  3. Selections from Cato's Letters [William Smith] and The Forester [Thomas Paine], Pennsylvania Gazette(1776)
  4. [John Adams], Thoughts on Government (1776)

Appendix C: Political Documents

  1. The Declaration of Independence (1776)
  2. The Constitution of Pennsylvania (1776)

Appendix D: Paine's American Crisis (1776)

Suggestions for Further Reading

Additional information

GOR010207903
9781551115719
1551115719
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Broadview Press Ltd
20040316
256
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Common Sense