What is the significance of the pamphlet "Common Sense"?

The pamphlet, Common Sense, was written in 1776 during the events leading to the American Revolutionary War. This document was very important because it helped sway people into supporting those individuals who favored declaring independence from Great Britain. This pamphlet explained the reasons why the colonists should break free from the rule of the British.

Prior to the publication of this document, many colonists were undecided about declaring independence from Great Britain. While they weren’t happy with the actions of the British, these people weren’t sure that declaring independence was the right thing for the colonists to do, even though some fighting had already occurred between the colonists and the British, such as the fighting at Lexington and at Concord. This pamphlet helped convince many of the undecided colonists that declaring independence was in the best interests of the colonists. About six months after the publication of Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence was issued in July of 1776.

Thomas Paine was a very influential writer of the mid 1700's.  He wrote in a manner that was easy to read.  Many writers of the time wrote in a way that only the very well educated could read. Because of this, many people read this pamphlet and it had a huge impact.

Thomas Paine villified the British crown.  The trouble of the early 1750's, according to Paine, were the fault of the British government.  He went on to write, that the colonies should be free of the British.  The population in the colonies were split on the idea of independence.  The pamphlet "Common Sense" helped to sway the leaders and the people that the time had come to declare independence.

Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet "Common Sense" in 1775 and it was published in January of 1776.  The main impact of this pamphlet was to help cause the American colonists to decide to fight for independence.

The first battles of the Revolution took place in 1775, but the colonists had not yet decided to actually try to become independent.  Many of them still wanted to try to reconcile with England and there was not a huge amount of hatred for the idea of monarchy.

The publication of Common Sense changed that.  In the pamphlet, Paine argued that monarchy was a bad system of government and that the American colonies must become free.  After that, sentiment grew for this position, leading to the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776.

Why was Common Sense important?

Common Sense articulated in clear, lucid prose the reasons why the colonies ought to declare independence from Great Britain. Published in early 1776, Common Sense was written at a time when an increasing number of Americans were beginning to feel that the war with Great Britain had made the idea of continued union with the mother country untenable. Too many people had perished for the war to be about asserting the rights of the colonists as British subjects. It is difficult to measure eighteenth century public opinion, so it is possible that Paine's Common Sense was expressing the general spirit of the times more than persuading an unwilling people to part with Great Britain. Either way, there can be no doubt that Common Sense was a phenomenon from the moment it was first published. Hundreds of thousands of copies were distributed throughout the colonies. The Americans read within its pages a searing critique of Britain and of monarchy in general, an argument for the economic necessity of independence, and a vision for beginning a new nation founded on the principles of liberty and republicanism. With the publication of Common Sense, independence had an eloquent and persuasive spokesman.