Thomas Paine wrote the 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, which argued that the American colonies should become independent from Great Britain.
Paine published Common Sense anonymously on January 10, 1776, in Philadelphia. Its direct prose made complex arguments about monarchy, government, and independence accessible to a broad colonial audience. The pamphlet appeared months before the Declaration of Independence.
The work was initially signed “by an Englishman,” so readers did not immediately know Paine was the author. Benjamin Rush, a physician and future signer of the Declaration, helped Paine choose the title Common Sense. The printer Robert Bell issued the first edition.
Common Sense is often described as the most influential pro-independence pamphlet of the revolutionary period, although exact sales figures remain debated. Paine later wrote The American Crisis, another series of revolutionary pamphlets. The two works are related but are not the same publication.