In his pamphlet Common Sense, published in January, 1776, Thomas Paine used the everyday language of the colonists to express his feelings about Great Britain. excerpt from Common Sense by Thomas Paine As to government matters, it is not in the powers of Britain to do this continent justice: The business of it will soon be too weighty, and intricate, to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience, by a power so distant from us, and so very ignorant of us; for if they cannot conquer us, they cannot govern us. To be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an answer, which when obtained requires five or six more to explain it in, will in a few years be looked upon as folly and childishness—there was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time for it to cease. Drag the central argument Paine presents and its two claims to complete the chart.

Argument Claims


the distance from england to america is too far from england to properly govern america


the time it takes to travel between the two countries makes governing and communication too diffcult to be effective


britain is unable to properly govern america


britain has given the american colonies too low a priority to be able to oversee their economies properly


the american colonists are too resistant to british rule remain content as britain's dependentes