Common Sense (Annotated): The Origin and Design of Government

Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-76 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight foregalitariangovernment. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of theAmerican Revolution, and became an immediate sensation.It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time (2.5 million), it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. As of 2006, it remains the all-time best selling American title, and is still in print today. Common Sensemade public a persuasive and impassioned case for independence, which before the pamphlet had not yet been given serious intellectual consideration. Paine connected independence with common dissenting Protestant beliefs as a means to present a distinctly American political identity, structuringCommon Senseas if it were a sermon.HistorianGordon S. WooddescribedCommon Senseas 'the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era'. The text was translated into French byAntoine Gilbert Griffet de Labaumein 1790.