Common Sense
Thomas Paine (1776)
“A broke, self-taught immigrant writes 48 pages that convince an entire continent to declare independence — and publishes them anonymously because the argument matters more than the author.”
Short Summary
Published anonymously in January 1776, Common Sense is the pamphlet that turned colonial grievance into revolutionary conviction. Thomas Paine — an English immigrant who had been in America barely fourteen months — argued in plain, furious prose that monarchy was absurd, hereditary succession was criminal, reconciliation with Britain was impossible, and independence was not merely an option but a moral obligation. Within three months, 150,000 copies were in circulation in a population of 2.5 million. Washington had it read aloud to his troops. It did not propose independence as a theoretical ideal; it demanded it as an immediate, practical necessity.
Detailed Summary
Common Sense arrived at exactly the moment the American colonies needed it. By January 1776, fighting had already broken out at Lexington and Concord, blood had been spilled at Bunker Hill, and yet the Continental Congress was still debating whether to reconcile with King George III. Most colonists ...