Which pseudonym did Thomas Paine use when signing The American Crisis pamphlets?

Thomas Paine used the pseudonym Common Sense when signing The American Crisis pamphlets.

Paine had already made the name famous through his January 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, which argued that the American colonies should seek complete independence from Britain. Using the same name for The American Crisis connected his later wartime appeals with the earlier case for independence.

The first Crisis pamphlet appeared in December 1776, after the Declaration of Independence but during a period of military setbacks. Paine wrote in direct, accessible language and urged soldiers and civilians not to abandon the revolutionary cause. His writing was intended for a broad public rather than only educated political readers.

Common Sense is therefore both the title of Paine’s earlier pamphlet and the pseudonym associated with The American Crisis. Publius, by contrast, was used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay for The Federalist Papers, making it a plausible but incorrect alternative.