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| Common Sense (Thomas Paine) | |
|---|---|
| Title | Common Sense |
| Author | Thomas Paine |
| Published | January 10, 1776 |
| Publisher | R. Bell (Philadelphia) |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 48 |
Common Sense (Thomas Paine) was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine and published in Philadelphia in 1776 that argued for the Thirteen Colonies' independence from Great Britain and promoted republican government. Its plain language aimed to reach a broad colonial readership and influenced political debate during the lead-up to the Declaration of Independence. The pamphlet's advocacy intersected with ongoing disputes involving figures such as George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin and events including the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress.
Paine, an immigrant who had been involved with the colonial press and associated with activists like Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, composed Common Sense amid escalating tensions after the Lexington and Concord engagements and the Siege of Boston. The pamphlet was printed by R. Bell of Philadelphia and circulated through networks tied to newspapers such as the Pennsylvania Journal and booksellers linked to the London book trade, reaching readers in urban centers including Boston, New York, and Charleston. Paine invoked precedents from works by John Locke, discussions at the Second Continental Congress, and pamphleteering traditions exemplified by earlier pamphlets and tracts circulated during the Glorious Revolution and the English Civil War.
Paine organized his argument into clear sections that combined moral, historical, and pragmatic claims: he criticized the role of the monarchy—especially the institution symbolized by King George III—and attacked hereditary succession practices rooted in European dynasties like the Hanoverian dynasty. Drawing on Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paine argued for a republican form modeled on examples like the Roman Republic and reminiscent of recent experiments in Venice and the Dutch Republic. He contrasted colonial grievances connected to the Intolerable Acts and trade disputes involving the British East India Company with proposals for a continental charter akin to the deliberations at the Continental Congress and institutions anticipated in state constitutions such as those later enacted in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Bay Colony. Paine proposed a written constitution, elections, and separation of powers influenced by discussions occurring in legal circles familiar with the Magna Carta and parliamentary debates in the House of Commons.
Common Sense sold tens of thousands of copies and provoked responses from loyalists and patriots alike, eliciting rebuttals from figures such as Thomas Hutchinson and engaging commentators in periodicals including the New-York Gazette and the Boston Gazette. Its popularity reached military and political leaders—George Washington is said to have read it to troops at Valley Forge—and it influenced delegates at the Second Continental Congress including John Hancock and Richard Henry Lee. International readers in France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic noted the pamphlet amid wider transatlantic debates involving revolutionaries like Maximilien Robespierre and intellectuals such as Voltaire. The work shaped public opinion alongside publications like The Federalist Papers and later polemics by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison during constitutional debates.
Paine's pamphlet helped crystallize calls for independence that culminated in the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, supported by delegates including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. It informed militia mobilization in campaigns such as the New York and New Jersey campaign and influenced revolutionary rhetoric used by committees of correspondence led by Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. Military officers and politicians in colonial assemblies referenced Paine's arguments when organizing provincial congresses in Virginia, Maryland, and South Carolina, and the pamphlet fed into broader Atlantic revolutionary ferment that later intersected with uprisings during the French Revolution and independence movements in Latin America.
Critics attacked Paine's attacks on monarchy and his religious views, prompting pamphlet wars with loyalist writers and Anglican clergymen associated with figures like Charles Inglis. Paine's later writings, including The Age of Reason, intensified controversies over his deistic positions and strained alliances with leaders such as John Jay and George Washington. Loyalist apologists pointed to economic ties with the British Empire and argued for reconciliation under statutes like the Tea Act; others raised legal counterarguments referencing precedents from the English Bill of Rights. Historians continue to debate Paine's authorship issues, printing history, and the pamphlet's relative weight versus other influences such as radical grassroots organizations like the Sons of Liberty and established elites represented by the Continental Army.
Category:Pamphlets Category:Political literature Category:American Revolution