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Common Sense

1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia

Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0

Source revisionSep 14, 2026

Entity authoritySource title only

Source-derived summary

Common Sense is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Common Sense” as 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1775, 1776—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Common, Sense and pamphlet can be independently traced.

Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1775 and 1776.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for

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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

Establish the record: confirm the title “Common Sense”, its source revision and the description used here.
Expand the search: follow Common Sense primary sources, Common Sense archive and Common research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Common Sense”?
Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?

Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Common Sense history →Common Sense primary sources →Common Sense archive →Common research →Sense research →pamphlet research →Thomas research →

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Common Sense” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.