Common Sense

Above is an actual copy of the pamphlet Common Sense written by Thomas Paine in 1776 that is on display at Guilford Courthouse. Now, in history class you have all heard about Common Sense and that it helped the cause of the American Revolution. But how?

Tensions between the Colonies and Great Britain had grown more and more tense, starting with the end of the Seven Years War in 1763 and finally culminating in the first shots being fired in April of 1775 when the revolution went from political to all out war.

With initial rush of adrenaline that followed the opening shots and Lexington and Concord, the movement became a torrent of support. Volunteers came to fight, farmers gave up the crops to feed the troops and formed the Continental Army.  Soon the British became bottled up in Boston. The siege began and went on into winter.

Once the war started however the rebels in the American Colonies had a fundamental issue that they all had to face how were they going to stand up to the greatest empires on the planet? How were they going to rally the people of the colonies to the cause? To win they needed the support of the people and they had to be able to explain to them what they were risking and why they were fighting.

Thomas Paine

Then came Thomas Paine and Common Sense. Up until this point the arguments for revolution had come from lawyers and doctors, academics and aristocrats. Paine however spoke to the people in common language. He showed them the stakes and what they might gain from the struggle. He put the revolution in terms that everyone could understand.

When published the people read Common Sense in taverns and at public gatherings. Washington had it read to all his troops. People purchased the pamphlet at an unmatched rate, even today. The colonies had a population of almost 3 million and almost 100,000 copies sold. To this day no other publication in the history of the country has reached that ratio. With the new understanding, the revolution found its footing and the people settled in for the long fight.

Paine donated all his royalties from the publication to the Continental Army.  He then joined and became a chronicler of the cause. Later, after the horrible defeat in New York he would go on to write An American Crisis, once again saving the cause with his pen.

I encourage everyone to read it. You can get here from Project Gutenberg for free Click Here.