Common Sense by {author}: summary and why it matters

What it argues

Published anonymously in Philadelphia in January 1776, the pamphlet appeared when many colonists still hoped for reconciliation with Britain. Paine argued in plain language that government is a necessary evil, that monarchy and hereditary rule are absurd and unjust, and that the idea of the colonies as dependent on Britain was false.

He claimed that Britain had not protected the colonies for their sake but for its own trade, that reconciliation was impractical and that America had the resources to stand alone. It was absurd, he said, for a continent to be ruled by an island. He proposed a continental charter and a congress to govern the new nation.

The tone is bold and vivid, and the pamphlet sold in huge numbers.

Why it matters

The pamphlet turned a political quarrel into a cause by making independence a matter of common reason. Conservatives disagree about Paine, whom Burke attacked, but most grant the book's power and its place in the American story.

About the author

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was born in England and emigrated to the colonies in 1774 with a letter of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin. After Common Sense he wrote The American Crisis, which opens with the line about the times that try men's souls, and then The Rights of Man in answer to Burke. He later lived in France and was imprisoned there during the Terror.

Who should read it

Anyone, in an hour. It is a pleasure to read.