Thomas Paine wrote the 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, a major influence on American independence.
Paine published Common Sense anonymously in Philadelphia in January 1776. Written in direct, accessible language, it attacked hereditary monarchy and argued that the American colonies should seek complete independence from Great Britain rather than reconciliation.
The pamphlet helped move independence from a controversial idea into a subject of broad public debate. It was sold in large numbers for its time and was read aloud in taverns, meeting places, and private homes. George Washington also had it read to Continental Army troops.
Common Sense was not the Declaration of Independence, and Paine did not write the Declaration's final text. Thomas Jefferson drafted the principal version of that document. Paine later wrote The American Crisis, another influential series of Revolutionary War pamphlets, beginning in December 1776.