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Chapter III - Common Sense
Common Sense
Paine certainly didn't have the flair of Benjamin Franklin or the stature of Thomas Jefferson, and much to his dismay he had failed at nearly everything he had attempted in England, including corset making, teaching, tax collecting and two marriages. However, after arriving in America in 1774 and meeting Benjamin Franklin, Paine did find success. At Franklin's urging, Paine founded the Pennsylvania Magazine and began writing editorials. Apparently Paine had found his vocation, for in 1776 he produced the brilliant pamphlet Common Sense. In it he not only called for independence, he also rejected the idea that the preservation of freedom required a balance of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. Instead, he advocated a republic. Rather than praising the benefits of a connection with the monarchy, Paine pointed out that Britain had blatantly exploited the colonies. He also claimed that the monarchy was the "most prosperous invention the Devil ever set for the promotion of idolatry." In Common Sense Paine scorned the notion that Americans should remain loyal to a king who coldly ordered the spilling of their blood. In the end, he wrote, "Reconciliation is now a fallacious dream. We have it in our power to begin the world over again." Within a few months, more than one-hundred thousand copies of the pamphlet Common Sense had appeared, and newspapers were dominated by fierce debates between newly inspired revolutionaries and those who continued to cry for reconciliation.
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