Published anonymously in 1776 - the year of the American Declaration of Independence - Paine's "Common Sense" became an immediate bestseller. More than any other factor, it was this pamphlet which sparked off the movement that established the independence of the United States.

Published anonymously in 1776, the year of the American Declaration of Independence, Paine's "Common Sense" became an immediate bestseller, with 56 editions printed in that year alone. It was this pamphlet, more than any other factor, which helped to spark off the movement that established the independence of the United States. From his experience of revolutionary politics, Paine drew those principles of fundamental human rights which, he felt, must stand no matter what excesses are committed to obtain them, and which he later formulated in his "Rights of Man".

Background to the American Revolution, 1776 from staymaker to revolutionary - the life and career of Tom Paine
the argument of common sense
Bourgeois radicalism - the ideology of Tom Paine
Paine and the American bicentennial. Common sense: introduction
of the origin and design of government in general of monarchy and hereditary succession
thoughts on the present state of American affairs
of the present ability of America, with some miscellaneous reflexions. Appendix: to the representatives of the religious society of the people called Quakers.