Common Sense (1776), Addressed to Today's Citizens of America

By: Crystal Simone Smith

Published by Beacon Press, 2026-03-24

A revolutionary work of erasure poetry that exposes the contradictions in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense—calling for a new definition of citizenship that embraces all Americans In his famous cry for inhabitants of the thirteen colonies to seek independence from Britain, Thomas Paine claims to call for total freedom and equality, yet his arguments are directed only at white men, excluding women and people of color. Crystal Simone Smith, known for writing poetry about the human condition and social change, offers a new poetic work that calls out the contradictions in one of the foundational texts of American democracy. Britain’s oppressive rule, while strongly criticized throughout Paine's text, was subsequently repeated by the founding fathers who, when forming our nation, established laws that oppressed racial groups and women. Smith uses the power of redaction to revise Pain’s approach, inviting readers to critically engage with the text and reimagine it anew. Retaining the original text as a translucent background, Smith highlights specific words and phrases to reveal new meanings that reflect not only the totality of America’s founding, but the ensuing fragile, if not failing, democracy of our present times. Perfect for students and US history buffs alike, this highly interactive collection functions as a textual reveal of historical biases and makes a case for a new, inclusive definition of citizenship that recognizes all Americans.