Question

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. Society is produced
by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by
uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages [social]
intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
6 Society in every state is a blessing, but
government, even in its best state, is but a
necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable
one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the
same miseries by a government, which we might
expect in a country without government, our
calamity is heightened by reflecting that we
furnish the means by which we suffer.
Government, like dress, is the badge of lost
innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the
ruins of the bowers of paradise. 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. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it
unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the
least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others.
7 In order to gain a clear and just idea of the design and end of government, let us suppose a small
number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the earth, unconnected with the rest; they will
then represent the first peopling of any country, or of the world. In this state of natural liberty,
society will be their first thought. A thousand motives will excite them thereto; the strength of one
man is so unequal to his wants, and his mind so unfitted for perpetual solitude, that he is soon
obliged to seek assistance and relief of another, who in his turn requires the same. Four or five
united would be able to raise a tolerable dwelling in the midst of a wilderness, but one man might
labor out the common period of life without accomplishing anything. When he had felled his timber
he could not remove it, nor erect it after it was removed. Hunger in the meantime would urge him
from his work, and every different want call him a different way. Disease, nay even misfortune,
would be death; for though neither might be mortal, yet either would disable him from living, and
reduce him to a state in which he might rather be said to perish than to die.
8 Thus necessity, like a gravitating power, would soon form our newly arrived emigrants into
society, the reciprocal blessings of which would supersede, and render the obligations of law and
government unnecessary while they remained perfectly just to each other; 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.
COMMON TERMS in COMMON SENSE
charter constitution
check limit, keep under certain controls
posterity future generations; our children
suffer permit, allow
viz. that is, namely
want lack, need
the Continent the thirteen colonies
foreign courts other monarchs and their advisers
republican of a republic/representative
democracy (not a political party)
Tories; Whigs Loyalists; Patriots

2. Quoted Words- Find at least 3 quoted phrases/sentences in Ch. 2 only, cite who said it or where it came from, and why they used the quote. (look at what message they were trying to communicate by using it)

3. Extreme/Absolute Language- The author uses extreme, dramatized, fear mongering, and etc language to provide a point. (This of something that seems overly dramatic. Why would they say it like that?)

Answer 1

Here are answers for parts 2 and 3 based on Chapter 2 of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

2) Quoted phrases/sentences (Chapter 2), source, and why Paine used them
- "Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness;"
Source: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Ch. 2.
Why he used it: This is Paine’s central thesis for the chapter — a concise contrast that separates the natural, positive origins of society (human needs and cooperation) from the artificial, defensive origin of government (to restrain vice). It frames his argument that governments exist as a corrective, not as the basis of human association.

- "Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise."
Source: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Ch. 2 (with a biblical/allusive echo of Eden).
Why he used it: A vivid metaphor and biblical allusion to Eden/innocence that morally condemns monarchy and luxury. It dramatizes the idea that government (and especially monarchic splendor) marks humanity’s fall from a simpler, better state and that kingship is founded on the destruction of natural happiness. The imagery is meant to provoke moral outrage and sympathy for the “natural” state.

- "Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others."
Source: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Ch. 2.
Why he used it: This is an explicit statement of political purpose (a social-contract style claim). Paine uses it to shift the debate from abstract loyalty to a practical criterion: choose the form of government that maximizes security and minimizes cost/abuse. It undercuts arguments for hereditary monarchy by putting utility and prudence at the center.

(You can also note shorter proverbial echoes in the chapter like “out of two evils, to choose the least,” which is a common moral maxim Paine invokes to justify submitting some property for protection.)

3) Examples of extreme/absolute language and why Paine used it
- Example: "government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one."
Why: Strong, absolute wording forces readers to view government skeptically even at best — it is a “necessary evil,” never a good. This primes the audience to reject complacency about monarchy and to be vigilant about abuses. The contrast between “necessary” and “intolerable” heightens the stakes and motivates action.

- Example: "the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise."
Why: Highly dramatic, moralizing imagery that portrays kingship as sacrilegious and ruinous. It appeals to emotion and religious sentiment, painting monarchy as not just politically wrong but morally catastrophic.

- Example: "we furnish the means by which we suffer."
Why: Short, accusatory language that blames subjects for their own subjugation — meant to provoke indignation and empower readers to see change as their duty.

- Example: "nothing but heaven is impregnable to vice"
Why: An absolutist claim that stresses human fallibility and the inevitability of vice, justifying the need for governance but also implying limits to its moral efficacy. It supplies urgency: because people are corruptible, institutions must be designed carefully.

Overall purpose of the extreme/absolute language:
- To dramatize the moral stakes, stir emotion (pathos), and mobilize readers toward political change.
- To draw sharp contrasts (society vs. government; innocence vs. corruption) that simplify the argument and make the choice appear urgent and moral, not merely technical.
- To delegitimize hereditary monarchy and make practical republican alternatives seem both morally right and necessary.

If you want, I can mark more specific sentences from Chapter 2, trace any explicit allusions (biblical or classical), or give a short sample paragraph showing how Paine’s rhetoric (ethos/pathos/logos) works line-by-line.