common sense by thomas paine essay

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Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections

Thomas paine's common sense, 1776.

Description by Kenneth Hong, Brandeis undergraduate and special contributor to the Special Collections Spotlight.

“Common Sense,” published on January 10, 1776, was originally printed in the city of Philadelphia, but was soon reprinted across America and Great Britain, and translated into German and Danish. [1]  Thomas Paine’s pamphlet was first published anonymously, due to fears that its contents would be construed as treason; it was simply signed, “by an Englishman”. [2]  The version housed at Brandeis University is one of the London printings, which had hiatuses, where words and phrases were omitted that were offensive to the British crown. [3]  “Common Sense” sold about 120,000 copies in the first three months alone, being read in taverns and meeting houses across the 13 original colonies (the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population in 1776 to be about 2.5 million and today to be about 320 million, that would make it proportionally equivalent to selling 15,000,000 copies today!) [4]

Paine used his writing as his weapon against the crown. With masterful language, Paine united the will of the colonists, planting the seed and giving hope and inspiration to fulfill the dream of America as an independent nation. The pamphlet was originally published without his name and all of the royalties associated with “Common Sense” were donated to the Continental Army. [9]  It would appear that Paine was looking for neither fame nor fortune in writing a pamphlet that profoundly affected the creation of a nation. To Paine, these ideas came naturally, they were simply, “Common Sense.” 

August 2 , 2015

•  Powell, Jim. “ Thomas Paine, Passionate Pamphleteer for Liberty ,” in The Freeman, January 1, 1996. Foundation for Economic Education. Accessed March 11, 2015.
•   Ibid .
•   Entry for Call# D793.P147c . Brown University Library Online Catalog. Accessed March 12, 2015.
•  Harvey Kaye. “ Common Sense and the American Revolution. ” The Thomas Paine National Historical Association. Accessed February 10, 2015.
•  “ Praise for Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, 1776 as Reported in American Newspapers, ” in “America in Class: Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791: Primary Source Collection.” The National Humanities Center. Accessed March 13, 2015.
•   Ibid.
•  Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. London: J. Almon, 1776.
•  Kaye, Accessed February 10, 2015.

This essay, by Brandeis undergraduate Kenneth Hong, resulted from a Spring 2015 course for the Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program, taught by Dr. Craig Bruce Smith, entitled, “Preserving Boston’s Past: Public History and Digital Humanities.” In this course, students worked with archival materials, developed website content, and produced their own commemoration event, “The 250th Anniversary of the Stamp Act: A Revolutionary Exhibit and Performance,” marking one of the first steps of the American Revolution.

The Transitional Year Program was established in 1968 and was renamed in 2013 for Myra Kraft ‘64, the late Brandeis alumna and trustee. It provides small classes and strong support systems for students who have had limitations to their precollege academic opportunities.

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