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Thomas Paine’s Common Sense | A250 Mini Documentary
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Founding Principles
Natural/Inalienable Rights, Liberty, Consent of the Governed
About this video
In early 1776, as the Revolutionary War intensified across North America, the American cause stood at a crossroads. Fighting had erupted at Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, British warships patrolled colonial waters, and a massive invasion force was preparing to crush the rebellion. Yet many colonists still hesitated to break with Britain until Thomas Paine’s Common Sense delivered a bold, uncompromising case for independence and republican self-government.
The pamphlet became an instant bestseller, spreading through taverns, homes, and the Continental Army and helping turn public opinion toward independence. Its powerful case for natural rights and a government of citizens influenced Congress and helped pave the way for the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.
0:05 In early
0:06 1776, war raged across North America.
0:10 Patriots had fought and died at the battles in Lexington and Concord,
0:15 and then at Bunker Hill.
0:18 Battles were fought in Virginia
0:20 and the port of Norfolk lay in ashes.
0:24 British warships prowled American waters,
0:27 and a massive fleet carrying 32,000 redcoats and Hessian mercenaries
0:32 were being prepared to stamp out the rebellion in the American colonies.
0:38 General George Washington and his Continental Army
0:41 squared off against the British in Boston.
0:44 Yet the colonists were not ready to make a final rupture
0:48 with the British and form their own
0:51 separate country.
0:54 All that was about to change in January 1776.
0:58 A recent immigrant from England had arrived in Philadelphia
1:01 about a year before.
1:03 He had failed in various jobs
1:05 and was trying his hand as a journalist and propagandist.
1:10 He wrote an essay attacking the inconsistency of slavery
1:14 and freedom in America.
1:16 Revolutionary physician Benjamin Rush read the essay and met its author.
1:21 Rush suggested that the writer Thomas Paine
1:25 composed an essay supporting the controversial idea of independence.
1:31 He agreed and started writing.
1:35 Paine wrote in a plain and
1:37 clear style that appeal to a mass audience.
1:41 But the 46 page pamphlet he wrote was provocative and forceful in its language.
1:47 Paine planned to titled the pamphlet Plain Truth,
1:50 but rush suggested he change it to common sense.
1:54 Paine pulled no punches when he ridiculed
1:57 hereditary monarchy and aristocracy.
2:00 He called them the two ancient tyrannies
2:03 because they created an unequal and oppressive society.
2:08 They created artificial distinctions between kings and subjects
2:12 and exalted a few people above the rest.
2:17 Cain specifically attacked King George the Third as a royal brute
2:21 and believed Americans should separate from Britain.
2:25 Reconciliation was just a fallacious dream.
2:28 By 1776, the King and Parliament ignored all their petitions
2:34 and pleas to end the oppressive rule, and British
2:37 troops were killing Americans.
2:42 Paine thought that the colonists
2:43 should declare independence and adopt republican self-government.
2:48 He envisioned a representative national congress elected by the people.
2:53 The government would be established along enlightenment
2:56 natural law principles to protect the natural rights of the people,
3:01 including a life, liberty, property, and religious liberty.
3:06 As he wrote, he wanted to begin the world anew
3:10 with the free government of citizens,
3:13 not subjects of a king.
3:16 Common sense was an immediate bestseller.
3:19 25 editions were quickly published,
3:22 and it sold 150,000 copies
3:26 in a population of only 2.5 million people.
3:30 Copies were shared, and it was read aloud in taverns and in the army.
3:35 As the idea of independence spread like wildfire.
3:39 One Connecticut man captured its effect perfectly.
3:43 You have declared the sentiments of millions, he wrote.
3:46 We were blind.
3:48 But on reading these enlightening words,
3:51 the scales have fall from our eyes.
3:54 George Washington praised it for its sound, reasoning,
3:57 and thought it would influence Congress to consider the question of separation.
4:03 Washington was correct.
4:06 Common sense pushed the movement for independence
4:08 from rapidly forward in the Second Continental Congress.
4:12 Over the spring, congressional delegates were significantly divided
4:17 over the question and debated it fiercely.
4:21 By July 2nd, Congress adopted Richard Henry Lee’s resolution
4:25 that the colonies were free and independent states,
4:30 and that all a little connection between them and Great Britain is
4:35 and ought to be totally dissolved.
4:39 On July 4th, 1776, Congress
4:42 adopted the Declaration of Independence that asserted,
4:46 we hold these truths to be self-evident,
4:49 that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
4:54 by their creator with certain inalienable rights.
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Related Resources
Thomas Paine published Common Sense in January 1776 support of the Patriot cause. Using clear, plain language, Paine rallied the colonists to support the break from Britain.
In this episode of Primary Source Essentials, explore Common Sense by Thomas Paine and its powerful role in the American Revolution. Published in January 1776, Common Sense made a bold case for American independence, attacking monarchy and hereditary rule while calling the British king a threat to natural rights and liberty. Paine argued for republican government, popular sovereignty, and the idea that in a republic “the law is king.” By promoting a continental American identity rooted in liberty and equality, Common Sense became a bestseller that helped build popular support for independence and influenced the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Why did Thomas Paine truly think that independence from Great Britain was “common sense”? In this episode of Primary Source Close Reads Explained, Kirk dissects Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet published in January 1776. At this point, declaring independence was not a foregone conclusion, and Paine’s pamphlet argued that persistent connection to the nation provided no advantage to the American people. How does Paine’s argument differ from others who wrote in opposition to Great Britain at the time? What reasons does he highlight as imperative for severing ties with the nation? How can words, written and spoken, change history? “Primary Source Close Reading: Explained,” dives even deeper into some of the most pivotal pieces that shaped the America we know today. Join BRI’s Director of Content, Kirk Higgins, as he takes a detailed look at the language contained in the most formative documents, speeches, and court cases throughout the history of the United States. Learn the true meaning and story behind the writing that fashioned the country in a way you can easily digest!