Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, the 1776 pamphlet connected with the revolutionary story America250 commemorates.
Published anonymously in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, Common Sense argued that the American colonies should seek complete independence from Great Britain. Paine presented the case in direct, accessible language rather than the formal style common in political essays of the period.
The pamphlet became one of the most influential political works in revolutionary America. It sold widely and helped move public discussion from resistance to British policies toward the larger question of independence. Paine later acknowledged his authorship, which had initially been concealed.
Common Sense did not itself declare independence, and Paine was not one of the principal drafters of the Declaration of Independence. The pamphlet instead helped create a political climate in which independence became more broadly supportable before Congress adopted the Declaration in July 1776.