In his book Common Sense, Thomas Paine gives his opinions behind a very important conflict at the time, the conflict between Great Britain and her colonies. Thomas Paine tries to convince his audience, who in this case are his fellow American colonists, to drop their allegiance to the corrupt King George and support a revolution. He uses a simplistic tone and arguments to make it seem like he is laying everything out on the table. He does not want to be like the British Parliament, who have time and time again deceived and lied to the colonists. By taking a simplistic approach to his arguments and writing in general, Paine strengthens his ethos, as well as the trust that the audience has in him. The first thing Paine does, is insult the British government. He specifically addresses Britain’s corruption and carelessness by saying, “It hath been reported of the late Mr. Pelham, that on his being attacked in the House of Commons on the score that his measures were only of a temporary kind, replied, “they will last my time.” By stating this, Paine is trying to convince the American people that the British are carless rulers who do not have the best interests of the colonies in mind. This he will use to add up to the main point of his writing, which is that there is but a simple decision with a definite answer to the question of gaining liberty or continuing to be enslaved. Next in his writing, Paine states that a form of thinking has come about, and the old ways of thinking in regards to colonies and colonizing countries are outdated: “…a new era for politics is struck-a new method of thinking has arisen. All plans, proposals, etc., prior to the nineteenth of April i.e., to the commencement of hostilities, are like the almanacs of the last year; which though proper then, are superseded and useless now.” In this statement, Paine uses parallelism and repeats the word “new” twice. By repeating this word, he is trying to remind the audience that nothing will ever stay the same. He is trying to explain the fact that in order to function as a society, new things must come, and old things must go. Thomas Paine is trying to get across to his audience that there is no reason to think of Britain as the parent country any longer. This type of thinking is outdated and is no longer acceptable. Finally, Thomas Paine uses Logos to appeal to his audience and hit his ideas home, “In this extensive quarter of the globe, we forget the narrow limits of three hundred and sixty miles (the extent of England) and carry our friendship on a larger scale”. He writes in Common Sense that it is preposterous for such a tiny island to rule over such a large an expansive territory. He notes that the United States is much larger than Britain and can overcome them if they only work together and ally with other European brothers: “…we claim brotherhood with every European Christian, and triumph in the generosity of the sentiment.” In conclusion, Thomas Paine uses insults on Britain, the encouragement of new thinking (and shunning of the old), as well as logical appeal in order to convince his audience of fellow colonists to take up arms and support a revolution. Paine uses simplistic language and straightforward arguments to gain the trust of his readers and to build up his ethos. All of this combined together makes for the creation of an eloquently written book that provided the basis for the colonist’s rationale to revolt against Great Britain. Because of Thomas Paine’s expert writing technique and clear strategies, Common Sense remains recognized as a landmark historical document to this day.