ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
January 10, 1776
Common Sense by Thomas Paine is Published
Promoting Independence from British Rule
for the "Inhabitants of America"
On this day in 1776 the pamphlet Common Sense was first published anonymously. Common Sense was written by
Thomas Paine in a style easily understood by common people and relied heavily on biblical references as well as
references used by those of Enlightened Era writers.
At the time, many American Colonists were still not convinced that independence was a good idea, however this
pamphlet became very poplular with the public, selling 120,000 copies in the first three months. The royalties were
donated to Washington's Continental Army.
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