
One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and he inspired the rebels in 1776 to. Common Sense was perhaps the most influential political pamphlet of the American Revolution for the patriot cause, and played an integral role in the country achieving its independence in 1776. JanuJune 8, 1809) was an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. In order to illustrate his argument, Paine likens the connection between Britain and America to that of a parent and child: if the colonies don’t fight for independence, he reasons, America will be kept paralyzed in a constant state of underdevelopment and oppression. He appeals to everyday colonists’ moral reasoning abilities to inspire them to support the Revolutionary cause against England-particularly against George III’s tyranny-and decries the heredity monarchical system in general. In Common Sense, Paine portrays himself as an ordinary citizen motivated by concern for justice, not by political partisanship. Drawing inspiration from Enlightenment thinker John Locke, Paine believed in the inherent equality and inalienable rights of man that would go on to form the basis of the US Declaration of Independence.
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Born in England and inspired by Enlightenment political philosophy, he became an activist for American independence after moving to the colonies in 1774.


Thomas Paine (1737–1809) is the author of Common Sense.
