Published in January 1776, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was the most widely read political pamphlet of the American Revolution, selling hundreds of thousands of copies in a country of fewer than three million free people. Written in plain, forceful English addressed directly to ordinary colonists rather than educated elites, Common Sense made the case for independence from Britain with moral clarity and political passion that transformed public opinion in a matter of months.
Among the most consequential documents in American history, Common Sense helped catalyze the break from Britain and establish the ideological foundations of the new republic. Download this free EPUB for a clean edition of one of history’s most influential political writings.