Talk:Common Sense (pamphlet)
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This page really needs more detail about what Common Sense says and what it brought about. IE: Its purpose, its main points, the public reaction, opinions of the public and other intellectual figures, and the general reprecussions. I'm doing an essay on it at the moment, so I don't have the time. But when I'm done I try and add a bit more detail, if I'm feeling competent enough.
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.169.69.239 (talk) 09:08, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
If anyone has a more original or more reputable source than John Taylor Gatto, I'd welcome an edit. :) Gatto is unfortunately a bit of a conspiracy nut. Unfortunately I can't find where he got his statistics.
for some reason the wikisource link at the bottom of the page is pointing to an incorrect address. It's saying the link is http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Common_Sense_%28Book%29 when in reality it's actually posted as http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Common_Sense in wikisource AdamG 20:41 22 Sept 2005 igzat@earthlink.net
some one added a lot of garbage text (such as "yo momma" ) i think it should be changed back two steps.
This really needs more information on the repurcussions of Common Sense... --aciel 02:16, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
Contents |
[edit] Abuse
I think someone should seriously lock this page because there has been a lot of trash in it. Leave the talk page open for suggestions, though.
[edit] Can someone check this?
An anonymous user (IP 75.80.21.223) added to the list of arguments made in Common Sense, but it wasn't worded very well. I haven't actually read the book, though I have read about it. I commented what he added out, so someone can see where he was going. Mithras6 19:12, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
Done.Wikidudeman 20:57, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Diagram
I have uploaded a diagram representing the constitution of the United States as proposed by Thomas Paine in Common Sense. I request comments here in the hope of improving it before it is included in the article.
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mathieugp (talk • contribs) 03:56, 2 February 2007 (UTC).
- You are right software friend HagermanBot, I forgot to sign! -- Mathieugp 04:44, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] religion and common sense
"Common Sense used many Biblical references to support its assertions, playing to the strong influence of religion in Colonial America."
i don't think this article makes it clear why a pamphlet, such as common sense, was written using biblical imagery, other than eluding to religious influence in the colonies. while religion in colonial america isn't the topic of this article, i think it would be helpful if it were linked to such an article.
in my imaginary 'religion and colonial america' article, or some mash up between that article and common sense, i think an explanation of how rare books were in colonial households, ubiquity of the bible, and free-form style churches of the time, made associations with bible stories an easy way to convey messages.
gba 20:58, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Number of copies sold
I removed Common Sense was tremendously popular. Thomas Paine's pamphlet sold as many as 600,000 copies to a population of 3,000,000 (one for every five people) which would be equivalent to 60,000,000 copies sold in present day America." It should be noted that it was also a hit overseas in Europe. Not EVERY ONE of the purpoted 600,000 copies was sold in America.Dafhgadsrhadjtb 23:24, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] A sentence from the text that is not mentioned in this article
"There are thousands and ten of thousands, who would think it glorious to expel from the Continent, that barbarous and hellish power, which hath stirred up the Indians and the Negroes to destroy us; the cruelty hath a double guit, it is dealing brutally by us, and treacherously by them."
This argument is mentioned in the article, and it seems a very significant aspect of the text, though I am not entirely sure what it is referring to. I imagine there is a relation between this and the Proclamation 1763, but, aside from that, I don't know quite how to read it, though it comes off to me as pretty racist.
Could someone more knowledgable please help with this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.16.251.228 (talk) 04:46, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
- Paine is referring to Dunmore's Proclamation, in which the governor of Virginia sought to enlist black slaves to put down the American Revolution, as well as the feared British plans to encourage American Indians to attack colonists on the frontier. Paine thought it was cruel of the British to stir up a race war. Later in 1776, this charge was repeated in the Declaration of Independence: "He has excited domestic insurrections [i.e. slave revolts] amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions." —Kevin Myers 03:07, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
