Definition
Thomas Paine, an English-born writer who reached Philadelphia in late 1774 with a letter of introduction from Benjamin Franklin, published Common Sense anonymously in January 1776. The pamphlet argued that it was absurd for an island to govern a continent, rejected hereditary monarchy, and called for a republic in which the law, not a king, ruled. Paine wrote in plain language, and Americans read the pamphlet aloud in clubs and schools and even from a pulpit. Loyalists such as the minister Charles Inglis answered it, but it spread quickly.
Why it matters on the AP exam
Earlier protests had blamed Parliament and the king's ministers, but Common Sense blamed George III and rejected monarchy itself, which turned many colonists who still hoped for reconciliation toward independence. Paine also argued that independence would free American trade and keep the colonies out of Europe's wars, and he used the Bible against kings for readers raised on the sermons of the Great Awakening. A common mix-up confuses it with the Declaration of Independence: Paine wrote a pamphlet to persuade ordinary colonists in plain language, while Congress issued the Declaration six months later as its formal statement to the world. Multiple-choice stimuli give an excerpt and ask students to identify its argument, to connect it to republicanism, and to explain its audience and purpose.
In the sources
“There is something very absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.”
Connections
- Olive Branch Petition: Congress had petitioned the king for peace six months before Paine attacked him
- Declaration of Independence: Congress adopted it six months after Paine made the popular case for independence
- Natural rights: Paine claimed that a government of their own was the colonists' natural right
Study it in context
Topic 3.4: Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution Watch this part