Book outline:
Thomas Paine’s January 10, 1776, 47-page pamphlet that galvanized the colonies to stand together mobilized the thirteen splintered colonies and many militias to face-off the British monarchy to break away rather than reconcile with it. It’s worthy of every American middle and high school graduate’s and every immigrant’s rich deliberate thought about not only the foundation of the American republic but also the thoughts that built the colonies’ resolve to reject a tiny island nation’s audacity to rule a continent 3000 miles away from its shores. The 13 colonies signed the declaration of independence on July 4, 1776. On September 17, 1787, the US Constitution was signed. This little pamphlet circulated in print and by debates and talks to influence the lives we live today under the law of the US Constitution.
What’s the core message?
Mankind should live by nature and not by man-made rules or governments that are self-serving, unbalanced, and rigid. Nature is a reflection of independence and collaboration and it rejects hierarchies and perpetual order of submission by pure power or inheritance alone.
How do these concepts compare with points raised in other books?
This was a book or radical ideas conveyed in simple and powerful thought. Paine challenged the British monarchy as unjust and damaging to citizens through wars of kings’ egos and the need for government as a necessary evil necessitated by the need to protect the weak in society. It prescribes how society should be represented in a new republic so that the appointed members of society don’t become detached from it to chase their goals separate from the people they represent through corruption.
What the book does well.
This book assails the British rule in Britain and the losses her people have taken to fulfill the campaigns of its kings. It does so by cataloging the many wars and death and the endless cycles of them.
What could have made this book better?
This little gem birthed the courage that birthed a unique independent nation. In quick succession, Thomas Paine, who remained autonomous at first printing of this work published the next edition and additional supplements. For his time, this was the most sold book/pamphlet of the time.
Who would benefit from reading this book?
Every boy and girl of middle school age should read this book to learn to question authority, its legitimacy, and the extent and to choose whether and how much to support it.
What I got out of the book. Insights and takeaways.
(1) Even when the expression of disapproval toward Britain was considered treason, this book got published and it changed the course of a nation. That it stood to inspire the whole world, it changed the course of human history. If Thomas Paine could risk publishing such radical ideas and later speaking about his convictions with passion because what he saw was so wrong for human freedoms, so can each of us.
(2) Hierarchies and entitlement must be questioned at every level. They can and often do, block progress. They lead to misuse of resources waste of human potential.
(3) Because something has been done in a certain right or wrong way in the past does not automatically mean that the change of time and circumstances have not already percolated new ideas, tools, and methods which even if imperfect now are far better than what’s been in play for a long time.