Arriving in America in November of 1774, Paine found a populace primed for revolution. The colonists were already angry because the British monarchy had imposed a series of taxes (or duties) meant to pay for the Seven Year's War. Colonial and British forces fought this war from 1756 to 1763, struggling against the French in an area then known as North American Ohio Country. In 1773, the monarchy placed a duty on tea imported to America, which led to the Boston Tea Party. However, the colonist's anger was motivated by more than a desire to keep their incomes for themselves; they also objected to the governmental control that these duties implied. They argued that their taxation was unfair because they were not represented in the British Parliament.
Many colonists felt the British crown could not be trusted. This group felt that the only way they could ever secure their proper rights would be by forming their own separate government, which would undoubtedly mean going to war for independence from Britain. Common Sense is a clear and forthright call for war.
Yet, it also presents substantially more than a call for war. Originally only forty-six pages long, Common Sense includes a denunciation of monarchy rule as unnatural, against the will of God, and a hothouse for creating unnecessary wars.
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