Common Sense was published in 1776, at a time when America, then a colony of Great Britain, was teetering on the brink of war. It was an immediate success, a bestseller, and was credited with galvanizing the people of America and George Washington’s army.

Paine’s approach followed a path blazed by earlier thinkers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, though he radicalized both their positions. For Paine, British rule in America amounted to little more than tyranny and he went to great lengths to explain the deficiencies in the system of government that had been forced on the colonists. Paine was not only advocating separation from Britain, but also political and social revolution.

Common Sense stresses why the colonies really could defeat Britain, highlighting their many strengths, something that appeared counterintuitive at the time, since Britain was the most powerful nation in the world.

Paine’s text influenced not only the course of the Revolutionary War, but also helped shape the system of government created after victory had been won.