Common Sense

In January of 1776 a man by the name of Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet entitled Common Sense, in which he outlined the reasons that he felt it was time for the colonies to part company with Great Britain, and form their own independent nation.

Common Sense was widely distributed and read throughout the colonies, and was influential in convincing many thousands of colonists that it was indeed time to form a new united nation.

Common Sense had a profound impact on the mood of Americans and helped greatly to change the opinions of important and influential colonists who had been holding out hope for resolving the conflict with Great Britain without going to war.