"Common Sense" by Thomas Paine: "Introduction"–"Of the Origin and Design of Government in General, with Concise Remarks on the English Constitution"

In this pamphlet, Paine urges the American colonists to fight for independence from Great Britain and form a new government. Read the full text here.

This list covers the "Introduction"–"Of the Origin and Design of Government in General, with Concise Remarks on the English Constitution."
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sentiment
    a personal belief or judgment
    Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.
  2. procure
    get by special effort
    Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.
  3. formidable
    inspiring fear or dread
    Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.
  4. pretension
    the advancing of a claim
    ...as the King of England hath undertaken in his own Right, to support the Parliament in what he calls Theirs, and as the good people of this country are grievously oppressed by the combination, they have an undoubted privilege to inquire into the pretensions of both, and equally to reject the usurpation of either.
  5. usurpation
    wrongfully seizing and holding by force
    ...as the King of England hath undertaken in his own Right, to support the Parliament in what he calls Theirs, and as the good people of this country are grievously oppressed by the combination, they have an undoubted privilege to inquire into the pretensions of both, and equally to reject the usurpation of either.
  6. censure
    harsh criticism or disapproval
    In the following sheets, the author hath studiously avoided every thing which is personal among ourselves. Compliments as well as censure to individuals make no part thereof.
  7. injudicious
    lacking or showing lack of judgment or discretion; unwise
    The wise, and the worthy, need not the triumph of a pamphlet; and those whose sentiments are injudicious, or unfriendly, will cease of themselves unless too much pains are bestowed upon their conversion.
  8. extirpate
    destroy completely, as if down to the roots
    The laying a Country desolate with Fire and Sword, declaring War against the natural rights of all Mankind, and extirpating the Defenders thereof from the Face of the Earth, is the Concern of every Man to whom Nature hath given the Power of feeling...
  9. confound
    mistake one thing for another
    Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins.
  10. prudence
    discretion in practical affairs
    For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him out of two evils to choose the least.
  11. remiss
    failing in what duty requires
    ...but as nothing but heaven is impregnable to vice, it will unavoidably happen, that in proportion as they surmount the first difficulties of emigration, which bound them together in a common cause, they will begin to relax in their duty and attachment to each other; and this remissness, will point out the necessity, of establishing some form of government to supply the defect of moral virtue.
  12. propriety
    correct behavior
    If the colony continue increasing, it will become necessary to augment the number of the representatives, and that the interest of every part of the colony may be attended to, it will be found best to divide the whole into convenient parts, each part sending its proper number; and that the elected might never form to themselves an interest separate from the electors, prudence will point out the propriety of having elections often...
  13. maxim
    a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits
    I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz. that the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered; and the easier repaired when disordered; and with this maxim in view, I offer a few remarks on the so much boasted constitution of England.
  14. prepossession
    an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence
    ...any prepossession in favour of a rotten constitution of government will disable us from discerning a good one.
Created on Tue Jun 03 19:26:22 EDT 2025 (updated Tue Jun 03 19:36:51 EDT 2025)

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