In the introduction to Common Sense , Thomas Paine calls the cause of America the cause of all mankind. He states that
circumstances arise which are universal, and these affect everyone in some way or another, whether they are directly involved or not. His remarks are as relevant today as they were 230 years ago.
Paine wrote that
government, at its best, was a necessary evil, originating in the wickedness of man, meant to restrain the vices of the citizenry. The strength of the government, and the happiness of the governed depended on the electorate and the elected always supporting the other, keeping the common interest of the community foremost, namely
freedom and security.
England and her constitution had failed to do this, according to Paine. There were two tyrannies working in English law – the monarchy and the aristocracy. These were independent of the people, and contributed nothing toward freedom. The king by nature is shut off from the common people and the means of information, yet fully expected to act in the best regard of the people.
Paine argues that the position of king was one of the most successful inventions of the Devil, first introduced by the heathens and copied by the children of Israel. Here is a man, the same as any other man, set up for honors and riches above every other countryman. As this exaltation cannot be justified in nature, so it cannot be justified or defended by scripture. The will of God clearly seems to be against a government of kings. And while England had known some good kings, their country groaned under the burden of a great number of bad ones. The king seemed useful for only one thing – making war and giving away land, and for this he was given eight hundred thousand sterling a year, and worshipped. A nice bargain, for the one man.
The state of affairs in the colonies was the result of this inequity. Generations were standing on the sidelines, awaiting the outcome of the controversy between England and her colonies. Common sense dictated that America would flourish when out from under the burden of the monarchy, and that trade and fellowship with all of Europe would be possible.
In Common Sense, Paine outlines the future American government, from the presidency to the congress. He appeals to all the citizens of the colonies to put away their labels of Whig and Tory, and come together as one country, a free and independent America. Independence is the only thing that can tie and bind the colonies together against the tyranny of English rule. As it was then, it is today. We were, and are, a diverse people, held together by the common bond of freedom.