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Thomas Paine - Common Sense, published 1776

Common Sense was first published in January 1776 in Philadelphia. It was immediately successful and very popular, selling 100,000 copies in that year, satisfying an appetite for political radicalism.

It is a rallying call for the independence of the American colony and rebellion against the British oppressor. Written in spirited, forceful language, with a zest for irreverence, it condemned the tyranny of monarchy and the absurdity of hereditary succession.

Paine calls the King of England a "sullen-tempered Pharaoh", a "Royal Brute". In America, by contrast, "THE LAW IS KING". For Paine the tie between the two countries is broken forever. The cause of America is "...the cause of all mankind".

Taking Thomas Paine further with the Open University's expert view