Who wrote the pamphlet Common Sense, published during the American Revolution?

Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense, published during the American Revolution.

Paine published Common Sense anonymously in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776. Written in direct, accessible language, the pamphlet argued that the American colonies should seek complete independence from Great Britain rather than merely petition for better treatment within the empire.

The work attacked hereditary monarchy and promoted representative government. Its arguments helped move public discussion toward independence during the months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Common Sense became one of the most influential political pamphlets in the colonies, selling and circulating widely for its time.

Paine later wrote The American Crisis, a series of essays supporting the revolutionary cause, and contributed to the French Revolution with Rights of Man. Common Sense is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Benjamin Franklin because Franklin helped colonial writers and had a strong publishing background, but Paine was its author and publisher’s associate Thomas Bradford printed the first edition.