If
you live in the U.S., perhaps you remember Thomas Paine's Common
Sense from U.S. History classes. In this pamphlet Paine urged
people in the thirteen American colonies to separate from Britain and
its king and to form a democratic republic. In fact, Paine urged
colonists to break from history and orient themselves toward a future
ideal unheard of before.
Common
Sense was first published in January of 1776, and it became an
instant success. In just three months, 100,000 copies were sold in
the thirteen colonies—and experts think that a total of 500,000
total were sold, because there were pirated editions (even though of
course electronic copiers had not yet been invented!).
The
pamphlet was so popular, so talked-about, so galvanizing, that Paine
is often called the Father of the American Revolution.
Why
was this pamphlet so important?
There
are several reasons that scholars put forward to explain Paine's
success in capturing people's attention and swaying their opinions.
One reason, of course, was good timing—events were building to make
many people dissatisfied with long-distance British rule and fearful
of tyranny. Another reason is that Paine didn't use the formal and
flowery language used by learned people at the time. Instead, he used
clear, concise language. He was able to make complex ideas easy to
understand.
(I
think that, even today, many scholars use as many long words and
convoluted sentences as possible, as if making the written word
difficult to understand makes them feel smart. But I personally adore
clear, accessible writing. Really clever writing is usually simple to
understand.)
Today
is Thomas Paine's birthday! He was born on this date in 1737. Common
Sense wasn't his only important work; he wrote Rights of Man
and The Age of Reason in the 1790s. He was among the first to
call for the end of slavery and the establishment of human rights for
all—not just for people like him. Americans may celebrate him for
his role in inspiring our nation, but everyone in the world can
celebrate Paine as a brave freethinker whose words and works inspired
democracy and Enlightenment thinking everywhere.
Also
on this date:
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