Common Sense

By the last quarter of the 18th century, the colonies in America were a tinderbox just waiting for a spark to set off the conflagration that would envelope the eastern coast of the continent. In many ways, Thomas Paine provided the match, with his pamphlet Common Sense, an appeal to his fellow colonists in simple, undecorated speech for the need to take Great Britain to war and win the colonies' independence. At a time when fingers were commonly pointed at royal advisors and policy-makers, Paine firmly laid the blame for the colonies' injustice at the feet of George III himself.