Paine is most renowned for his activities advocating democracy. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the colonies to fight for egalitarian government. Common sense definition, sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like. As americans celebrate the 225th anniversary of the united states, thomas. Paine, the 39yearold author of common sense the 47page pamphlet that.
The popularity and significance of that pamphlet and his other writings, including the american crisis, have led historians to call him the father of the american revolution. Thomas paine wrote the pamphlet common sense in 1775 and it was published in january of 1776. Published in 1776 to international acclaim, common sense was the. Its not just a book for americans but a case for humanity and its ideas are as relevant today as ever. Paine started to define the content of the agreement on which a legitimate. With common sense, thomas paine energized colonial support for the armed rebellion that would make the american experiment a reality, using common sense to. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Common sense by thomas paine in a language you can understand. Common sense is a pamphlet written by thomas paine in 17751776 advocating independence from great britain to people in the thirteen colonies. Thomas paine 17371809 was a political activist and philosopher best known as the author of common sense. In common sense, thomas paine cast himself as under no sort of influence.
It is commonly believed that thomas paines last years in america were a. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. The project gutenberg etext of common sense, by thomas paine. Salute paine, not jefferson, on the fourth origins. His great contribution to the patriot cause was the 16 crisis papers issued between 1776 and 1783, each one signed common sense. Common sense by thomas paine is the most compelling case for freedom ever made. Thomas paine has 458 books on goodreads with 189300 ratings. Title page from thomas paines pamphlet common sense, 1776. Thomas paine publishes common sense on january 9, 1776, writer thomas paine publishes his pamphlet common sense, setting forth his arguments in favor of american independence. Notable among his publications are a monumental source book documents of. Common sense in common sense, thomas paine argues for american independence. Paine begins by distinguishing between government and society. Seven arguments from paine detailing why we need to leave great britain hiphughes walks you. The page numbers of this version of the book were my invention, for ease in reading the html document.