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"COMMON SENSE"

"COMMON SENSE," influential revolutionary pamphlet by Thomas Paine, published in Philadelphia, January 1776. Paine stressed the logic of America's independence, emphasizing the defects of Britain's monarchy and the economic costs of participating in Britain's repeated European wars. Reconciliation with Britain, Paine wrote, would constitute "madness and folly." "Common Sense" avoided abstract philosophy, favoring instead the ordinary language of artisans and biblical examples to support Paine's arguments. The "plain truth" (Paine's original title for the tract) he espoused found a broad readership; around 100,000 copies circulated in 1776 alone, and the pamphlet stirred politicians and ordinary citizens to embrace American independence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Conway, Moncure Daniel. The Writings of Thomas Paine. 4 vols. New York: B. Franklin, 1969.

Foner, Eric. Tom Paine and Revolutionary America. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.

Sally E. Hadden

See also Independence; Revolution, American: Political History; and vol. 9: Common Sense.