Thomas Paine wrote the 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, influential in the independence movement America250 commemorates.
Published anonymously in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, Common Sense argued in direct, accessible language that the American colonies should separate from Great Britain. Paine attacked hereditary monarchy and presented independence as both practical and morally justified.
The pamphlet became one of the most influential political works in revolutionary America. It was unusually readable for its time, avoiding the dense style common in political essays and addressing ordinary colonists as well as legislators and intellectuals.
Common Sense did not itself declare independence, and Paine was not the principal drafter of the Declaration. Its importance was persuasive: it helped shift public discussion from seeking reforms within the British Empire toward creating an independent republic.