only likely to become more oppressive, the colonies need to break away as soon as possible. The British will station more troops in the colonies and will use those troops to oppress the colonists. Against those who say the Americans are too weak to fight, Paine marshalls evidence of American strength, including the many natural resources available, such as timber to build a fleet of ships and the many shipyards the colonies already have. He also leans into the American military expertise still existing from the French and Indian war, stating:

our military ability...arises from the experience gained in the last war, and which in forty or fifty years time, would be totally extinct.

It would be one thing if Paine simply argued that at some indistinct point, the colonies had to rid themselves of English tyranny. Paine's pamphlet is most effective by arguing that now is the needed time: liberty is not something that can wait for another day.

Author of "The Rights of Man," Thomas Paine in "Common Sense" denounces KIng George III as a "royal brute." Paine appeals to people through rhetorical questions and persuasive argument:

• In his "Crisis No.1," Paine first puts faith in God as an argument:  "...God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish..."
• Paine feels that separation is inevitable and men should prepare for it so that their children will have a good life:  "Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must...finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, 'If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace'; and this single reflection, ...is sufficient to awaken every man to duty.
• The militia is assembling; soldiers are in the doorways.  If England is not bellicose, why are soldiers guarding people from their very homes?   "My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light.not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house...and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are into it...am I to suffer it?"
• Paine urges the colonists to use common sense: "There are persons too who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them [the British's increasing their number of soldiers in the colonies]; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeeds, will be merciful.  Is this the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice?"
• Paine argues that all the colonies must unite in their fight against the British:  Mutual fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to that state that breaks the compact."
• The colonists must remain steadfast in their purpose:  "By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils--a ravaged country...."

Certainly, Paine's reasoning is much like that of Jefferson, who stated "it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with one another..."  Jefferson, like Paine, feels that the truth of his words is "self-evident" as he mentioned all the injustices done by King George, whom he, too, obviously perceives as a tyrant.