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January 10, 1776
By: John Beilun / Time Traveler
On January 10, 1776, seven months before
the Declaration of Independence, a minor
Philadelphia printer published an anonymously
written 48-page pamphlet. He did not expect many sales, so the edition
was of a limited quantity.
How wrong the printer was! 120,000 copies were sold by the end of
March - plus another 400,000 before year end. On a per capita basis
(the colonies contained only 2,000,000 free inhabitants at the time)
the booklet had the largest sale and circulation of any other book in
American history.
The author, a recently arrived Englishman, was essentially penniless.
Nevertheless, because he so much loved his newly adopted home and
was adamant as to the moral rightness of a revolution; the writer
donated all his royalties to the Continental Army.
The pamphlet sold very well for a myriad of reasons. Unlike most
publications of its time, it was written in a style common people could
understand. Structured like a sermon, it helped make its case via
countless Biblical references.
Above all else, it clearly and concisely laid out the rational and
necessity for an American revolution. In fact, it has often been described
as “the most incendiary and popular revolutionary pamphlet ever
written.”
George Washington used the book to motivate his troops; often
reading it to them when they encamped. It also inspired the Continental
Congress to issue the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Jefferson constantly referred to it while writing that beloved
document. None other than John Adams is noted as having said,
“Without this book and the pen that wrote it, the sword of Washington
would have been raised in vain.”
The pamphlet
was originally going
to be called Plain
Truth. However,
Benjamin Rush,
one of our founding
fathers, convinced the
author to re-name it
Common Sense.
As for the author:
his name was
Thomas Paine.
At times referred to
as a pamphleteer, a
radical, an inventor,
an intellectual and
a rabble-rouser.
However, more often
than not: The Father
of the American
Revolution.
44
January 2019