Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, a 1776 pamphlet advocating American independence from Great Britain.
Published anonymously in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, the pamphlet presented arguments for republican government and against hereditary monarchy. Paine used direct, accessible language intended for ordinary readers rather than only political leaders.
Common Sense became one of the most influential printed works of the American Revolution. It was read aloud in homes, taverns, and meeting places, helping make independence a more widely discussed and defensible political goal during the months before the Declaration of Independence.
Paine later wrote The American Crisis, another revolutionary pamphlet series, but it was not the work that first made his name famous in the colonies. Rights of Man came later, in response to criticism of the French Revolution, while Plain Truth was an early proposed title for Common Sense.