Common Sense - 2 - American Independence
Part Two
Quote
We have it in our power to begin the world over again ... The birthday of a new world is at hand.
Notes
🔥 This — the issue of American independence — is not just an issue of the day, says Paine, but it will have effects "to the end of time." It involves a whole continent and, really, the whole world.
🔥 Being an English colony did afford some benefits, but they were only ever secondary in England's mind. England was always only ever out to protect her own interests, and any benefits that went to others were only a side effect. Which also means that as soon as England's interests change, those benefits might disappear. Not to mention, they'll pull the Americans into wars that they have nothing at all to do with.
🔥 Most Americans came from all over Europe seeking freedom from tyranny and oppression there.
🔥 There is nothing to gain from reconciliation with England, who's been oppressing the Americans. We (the Americans) just want to have trade with countries all over Europe and we can do that without England's help.
🔥 Both God and nature plea for America to separate itself from England, Paine says. It's clear from the huge distance between the two countries that they're meant to be separate.
🔥 The king of England is our enemy and he's jealous of our power, too. He will only ever want to limit us. It would go totally against his interests to empower America.
🔥 There is some fear of civil war or discord among the American colonies if they achieve independence. Paine proposes a Continental Congress as a government so that they stay in accord with each other.
🔥 The timing for taking independence now is perfect. We have the right amount of people and we have no debt. We also have the materials here to build a powerful navy.
🔥 The timing is also perfect because the colonies are still young and haven't had time to develop too much commerce or excess wealth. "The more men have to lose, the less they are willing to venture."
🔥 "Let each of us hold out to his neighbour the hearty hand of friendship, and unite in drawing a line, which, like an act of oblivion, shall bury in forgetfulness every former dissention. Let the names of Whig and Tory be extinct; and let none other be heard among us, than those of a good citizen, an open and resolute friend, and a virtuous supporter of the RIGHTS of MANKIND and of the FREE AND INDEPENDANT STATES OF AMERICA."
Thoughts
Paine really frames this event as a pivotal moment for the history of mankind. It's much bigger than the Americans or the English. He makes the story take on much more of an epic, universal theme of progress towards freedom and equality.
At one point he even says that there hasn't been a moment like this in all of history since Noah and the flood. "The birth-day of a new world is at hand."