Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, the influential 1776 pamphlet supporting American independence.
Published in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, the 47-page pamphlet argued that the American colonies should break completely from Great Britain. Paine presented independence in direct, accessible prose aimed at ordinary readers rather than only legislators or scholars.
Common Sense was initially published anonymously and signed “by an Englishman.” Paine’s authorship became publicly connected to the pamphlet later in 1776. The work circulated widely, was read aloud in taverns and meeting places, and helped make independence a more prominent public issue.
It is often confused with Paine’s later wartime series The American Crisis. Common Sense made the case for separation before the Declaration of Independence, while The American Crisis encouraged Patriot resistance during the Revolutionary War.