Thomas Paine wrote the 1776 independence pamphlet Common Sense.
Published anonymously in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, the pamphlet argued that hereditary monarchy and British rule were unjust and that the colonies should become independent. Paine used direct, accessible prose rather than the formal language common in political essays of the period.
Common Sense circulated widely through print shops, newspapers, taverns, and public readings. Its arguments helped make a complete break with Britain seem practical and urgent to many colonists before Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence.
Paine initially wrote under the name “an Englishman,” so readers did not immediately know the author. Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphia physician and independence advocate, helped connect Paine with printer Robert Bell. Another frequent mix-up is confusing Common Sense with Paine’s later series The American Crisis, written during the war.