Common Sense, 1776

 

Lent by American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Image courtesy of Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

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“Paine’s Common Sense appeared,” a contemporary remembered, “and passed through the continent like an electric spark. It everywhere flashed conviction, and aroused a determined spirit, which resulted in the Declaration of Independence upon the 4th of July ensuing.”

First issued in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, Common Sense, according to Paine’s account, sold 150,000 copies in America and was circulated widely in England and France. “As my wish was to serve an oppressed people, and assist in a just and good cause,” Paine declared he would take no profit from the publication. “My reward existed in the ambition to do good.”

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