Asher K. Sisneros
Dr. Gary North
American Literature
November 18, 2024
Moving to America two years before the Declaration of Independence, as a master of rhetoric, Thomas Paine found himself in the right place, at the right time. The American Revolution had ravaged the thirteen colonies for years now, and prominent lawyers leading the revolution refined their logical and legal case for independence to a tee.1 But not all Americans believed in the cause. There was still some skepticism about independence, the Continental Congress, and the revolutionary movement. Patrick Henry’s famous speech for liberty over death was a masterful piece of rhetoric. But aside from that speech, the revolutionaries did not have a compelling emotional argument. There was a legal and logical reason for independence—that taxation without representation is a violation of English tradition—but people are not won over to a cause by logical chains of reasoning. They are won over by arguments that appeal to their emotions. Besides, the tax rates in America were hardly cruel. Not only were the taxes incredibly low by historical (and especially contemporary) standards, hovering around 1% of national revenue, but the British colonies were also the freest place on Earth2, second only to Switzerland. So the injustices suffered by the Americans were negligible, to say the least. Even so, there was a strong legal argument for separation from Great Britain. In the eyes of Americans, it was a battle of principle. Although it was entirely reasonable for Britain to expect America to help pay for the French and Indian War—which George Washington started—their mode of taxation violated all prior customs and privileges enjoyed by the English colonists. For the House of Commons to establish taxes on the Americans without their consent was a violation of English legal custom. But to win the masses over to the revolutionary cause, the Americans needed a rhetorician, and that is where the newly emigrated Thomas Paine entered the picture and created his infamous pamphlet, Common Sense.
The title of Paine’s pamphlet is a little deceptive. Although aspects of it are emotionally powerful and have excellent rhetoric, it can lack logic at times. His criticisms of King George are especially inflammatory and built on ad hominem attacks. And rather than prove his bold assertions with logic or empirical evidence, Paine invokes “common sense.” However, that is usually a sign when Paine has no logical argument. Thus he uses the term “common sense” to mask the absurdity underlying his statement.
For example, in attacking the King’s speech before Parliament on October 27, 1775, Paine accused the King of lying, being more savage than the Native Americans, and neglecting American interests. But this was slander. In the speech, King George did not lie. All he did was call the American Revolution a civil war—which it was—promise to send troops to America, and offer pardon to any revolutionary who sought it. In the face of a revolution, no one would expect a monarch to do anything other than George did. He also was not more barbaric than the Native Americans who scalped their prisoners of war. And while he may have neglected the interests of the revolutionaries, he was not neglecting the interests of the loyalists in America who were tarred and feathered or whose property was confiscated and vandalized by the revolutionaries. Irrespective of whether the King was right or wrong in his statements, his speech was relatively moderate. So for Paine to accuse him of being some kind of despotic out-of-the-ordinary tyrant is a little melodramatic. Although the Americans had a legal justification for revolution, there was nothing strange about George sending a military to put down the revolution; one would expect it.
But the most illogical part of Paine’s treatise is when he says there is no benefit to union with Great Britain. As he put it: “I challenge the warmed advocate of reconciliation to show a single benefit this continent can reap [through] connection with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge, not a single [one] is derived.” 3There was not a single benefit? What about military protection? Great Britain offered America military support during the French and Indian War. That was certainly a benefit, especially since Britain was the most powerful naval force in the world. Perhaps the costs outweighed the benefits. That is an argument. But to say there was no benefit whatsoever to union with Britain is completely ludicrous. Of course there were benefits. The question Americans were faced with was whether those benefits were worth it or not, not whether there were benefits at all.
Thomas Paine committed a great crime against integrity by attacking the notion of peace. Common Sense was not entirely illogical and dishonest. There were positive aspects of the treatise that rang true. But as a general rule, Paine employed far more rhetoric than logic in the pamphlet. Moreover, his attacks on the King and, most importantly, the notion that America gained nothing from peace with Britain were dishonest. Perhaps it was rhetorically powerful and gained supporters for the cause. That is hard to say. Irrespective of the outcome, no cause is worth lying about. One of the great travesties of warfare is the level of deceptive propaganda journalists use. In the end, they wind up selling their integrity in the name of victory. Is it worth it? I argue no. There is no price on virtue. Journalists would be wise to paraphrase Patrick Henry’s words and cry, “Give me virtue, or give me death!” Unfortunately, most nations and their conduits of propaganda will choose lies over truth in the name of success over virtue. Thomas Paine was no different. He preferred the success of the American Revolution over the truth. And to that extent, the illogical rhetoric in Thomas Paine’s pamphlet was nothing but common nonsense.
- Asher Sisneros, “American Revolution: The Legal Dispute” (Houston, Texas: Ashersisneros.wordpress.com, 2024) ↩︎
- For information about how low the American taxes were and how free the British colonies were, see Dr. Gary North, “Tricked on the 4th of July” (Dallas, Georgia: Garynorth.com, 2011) ↩︎
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense, https://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/Paine-CommonSense.pdf, 18 ↩︎
Asher Sisneros 