Blood had been spilled at Concord, at Lexington and later at Bunker Hill. The American colonials had formed a Continental army and appointed George Washington-a Virginian and former British Army officer-as its commanding general. And then, the British Parliament declared the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion on August 23, 1775.
Great Britain and her wayward thirteen American colonies stood at the brink of war.
The troubles between the two had been brewing for more than a decade, ever since the end of The French and Indian War. The British Parliament had asked the colonies to furnish men to help fight the French, promising to pay all of the costs. Although the British ultimately won the seven year-long war with the French, it nearly bankrupted the country. Despite its promise to pay for the war, Britain initiated a series of disastrous taxes on the colonies, beginning with the stamp tax in 1765.
The cumulative weight of a decade of poor policy decisions made by both the Parliament and King George began to tell. Some colonists saw themselves no longer as loyal British subjects, but as Americans. These radicals believed that the next step would be to declare independence. Moderates acknowledged problems, but felt they could be solved from within the current governmental system. Other colonists feared the terrible consequences a war with Great Britain would bring. They urged caution. The colonists, contrary to claims, were hardly "united".
The tumultuous events of 1775 fed the independence movement. Independence supporters were optimistic, believing that a declaration would come soon. But that moment didn't come. As 1775 slipped away, the momentum towards independence stalled and then stopped. The colonial legislatures of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Maryland instructed their delegates to the Continental Congress not to vote for independence.
Future President John Adams of Massachusetts was a leader of the pro-independence movement. He grew increasingly concerned. Without the benefit of modern polling techniques, Adams analyzed the situation. He wrote that one-third of the American population were Tories-supporters of the Crown, one-third were moderates who urged a tougher stand on the issues, but not to the point of independence, and one-third were true blue patriots.
The year ended in great uncertainty. Both sides stood along the great divide between war and peace. Both were armed and vigilant, wondering what the new year would bring.
On January 10, 1776, a "bomb" that would change everything, exploded in Philadelphia. The bomb came in the form of a forty-six page pamphlet titled Common Sense, written under the nom de plume of "an Englishman". The author was later revealed as Thomas Paine, a former corset maker who came to Philadelphia at the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin.
Sales of Common Sense quickly exceeded the original printing of 1000 copies. You couldn't go anywhere in America's largest city without hearing about the pamphlet. It was read, discussed and debated in coffee houses, pubs, and on street corners. Those who could read shared it with those who could not. Within three months sales topped 120,000 and, by year's end, exceeded 500,000 (not including bootleg sales). It is almost inconceivable that a political pamphlet could sell so many copies in 18th century America with its population of 2.5. million people, of whom 500,000 were African slaves. The only book that rivaled its sales numbers was the Bible.
There were many pamphlets that made essentially the same points. Why was Common Sense so successful? The others were written by educated elites for other educated elites. They were often based upon constitutional arguments written in the dry language of the court. By contrast Paine wrote for the common man. According to Scott Liel, author of 46 Pages, Paine wrote in the language of the public house or that of a street corner radical.
Paine boldly catalogued the sins of both Parliament and the Crown. He made the conflict personal by calling King George "Royal Brute", "Pharaoh", and "Crowned Ruffian". Paine directly challenged the British government with statements such as the following: "Even brutes do not devour their young, nor do savages make war upon their own families". Common Sense succeeded according to Liel because, not only did it "change minds, it inflamed passions".
Common Sense was arguably the most influential political writing in history. It united a people and prepared the way for American independence just six months after its publication. Without it there may not have been a country known as The United States of America.
