F76.2A

__**Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" Changing The Colonies-January 1776**__

Will the Common Sence document change our government forever? A new document has been generated by Thomas Paine of Philadelphia. Because of the ongoing battles between Great Britain and the Colonies, and the talk of a fight for independence, urged by Dr. Benjamin Rush, Thomas Paine has been inspired to create a 50 page pamphlet, and released it to the public. The purpose of this pamphlet is to convince many of the remaining loyalist and neutral colonists remaining in the colonies to side with the Patriots, breaking ties with British rule. This pamphlet shows many supports of Patriots and proves many of the British points wrong. It has quickly become a best seller with over 500,00 copies sold in 6 months.Thomas Paine is the great man who wrote this pamplet, with the help of Benjamin Rush. By the July of 1776, there were over 500,000 copies sold. this pamplet had an immediate impact on the history of the colonies and America because Paine put the words in words that the people could understand more clearly. This was helpful because if the people can understand the words then they will be able to take impact more quickly. in 50 pages, Paine sums up why we should break away from British rule. The common Sence pamplet is explaining why we should break off of British rule. There are 4 sections within the 50 pages. In the first section, Paine is drawing the distinction between society and government. In the second section, he is explaining why we should consider a monarcy first from a biblical perspective. In the thrid section, Paine explains thoughts on the present state of American Affiars. And in the last section of Paine's 'Common Sence', he tells us the present ability of America, with some misc. reflections. Many people say Common Sense was the pamphlet which started the revolution against Britain. It was written in January of 1776 in Philadelphia to boost the morale of the colonies, and allow the truth that King George III was to blame for their issues. It was the time for the beginning of the Revolution. Suprisingly, Thomas Paine was born in England. He actually moved to the colonies later in his lifetime, not specifically because of the ongoing struggle between American Colonies and England. After less than a year in the Colonies, Paine commited himself to the cause of American Independence. He then published 'Common Sense,' a fifty page long pamphlet, expressing his opinions on various parts of the ongoing conflicts, siding with the Patriots. The pamplet appeared on January 10th, 1776, becoming an instant best-seller in the Colonies. There are many reasons behind why this document was published. Many of these reasons had to do with the frustration of prior conflicts such as The Stamp Act, The Boston Massacre, Lexington and Concord, and other events. Thomas Paine also wrote this document as to point out some of the false points of the British, and the many more reasons and advantages of declaring independence of the colonies. This was all in a great effort to convince remaining colonists (who were not already) into Patriots, and to break all ties with England. During this time period, many different people might have interperited this new-found document from different viewpoints. For example, a Patriot would have most likely viewed 'Common Sense' as a good idea to publish and thought that it contained very important points. A neutural Colonist may have had mixed feelings about 'Common Sense,' but may have seen toward the Patriots' bias and have seen some points in their arguments. Someone who was a Loyalist or British would probably have seen few points in it and may have simply dubbed many of these points as invalid or wrongly stated, remaning un-convinced. Many British may have thought Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' as a symbol of Treason. There were probably many different views on this, but all limited to one's bias, concerning the talk of independence in the Colonies.

__** Reported by Brendan Hanus and Anthony Brockway **__