Timothy Pitkins: "'Common Sense' produced a wonderful effect in the
different Colonies in favor of Independence."
Rev. William Gordon: "Nothing could have been better timed than this
performance."
Boston Gazette (April 29, 1776): "Had the spirit of prophecy directed
the birth of a publication it could not have fallen on a more fortunate
period than the time in which 'Common Sense' made its appearance."
"In the elements of its strength it was precisely fitted to the hour, to
the spot and to the passions."--_Prof. Moses Coit Tyler_.
Melville M. Bigelow: "No pamphlet was so timely, none had such an
effect."
Prof. C. A. Van Tyne: "It was a firebrand which set aflame the ready
political material in America."
"Every living man in America in 1776 who could read, read 'Common
Sense.'... This book was the arsenal to which colonists went for their
mental weapons."--_Theodore Parker_.
Mrs. Robert Burns Peattie: "Men, women and children read it. It was for
them an education."
C. W. A. Veditz, LL.B.: "The work of Paine became the text book of the
new era."
Sydney G. Fisher: "Its phrases became household words on the lips of
every man in the patriot party."
Henry W. Edson: "Its concise, simple and unanswerable style won
thousands to the cause."
Edward Channing: "It was read and debated in smithy and shop and
converted thousands."
Henry Eldridge Bourne and Elbert Jay Benton: "Much that Paine wrote was
so simple, so convincing, such 'common sense,' that thousands read it
and concluded that separation was necessary."
William Cullen Bryant and Sydney Howard Gay: "Everybody read it and
nearly everybody was influenced by it."
Pennsylvania Evening Post (March 17, 1776): "'Common Sense' hath made
independents of the majority of the country."
Almon's Remembrancer (1776): "'Common Sense' is read by all ranks; and
as many as read, so many become converted."
"'Common Sense' has converted thousands to Independence who could not
endure the idea before."
(Where two or more paragraphs of testimony follow the name of a witness,
all of the testimony cited, unless otherwise credited, belongs to the
witness named.)
William Robinson (to Nathan Hafle, Feb. 17, 1776): "Upon my word, it is
well done.... I confess a perusal of it has much reformed my notions."
Joseph Hawley (to Elbridge Gerry, Feb. 18, 1776): "I have read the
pamphlet entitled 'Common Sense, Addressed to the Inhabitants of
America.' and every sentiment has sunk into my well-prepared heart."
"By private letters which I have lately received from Virginia, I find
that 'Common Sense' is working a powerful change there in the minds of
many men."--_George Washington_.
Rev. John Drayton: "Colonel Gadsden (having brought the first copy
of Paine's pamphlet 'Common Sense') boldly declared himself [in the
Provincial Congress at Charleston, Feb. 10, 1776] for the absolute
Independence of America. This last sentiment came like an explosion of
thunder on the members."
Bitterly as the Colonists opposed the tyranny of the English Government
there were no manifestations of disloyalty. If they harbored the thought
of separation and independence no tongue or pen had dared to give
expression to it. Referring to this period Hon. Alexander H. Stephens
says: "Neither did Livingston, nor Washington, nor any of the prominent
leaders in the cause of the Colonists at that time look to anything but
a redress of grievances. None were looking to a final separation and
Independence."
"When I first took command of the army," says Washington, "I abhorred
the idea of Independence." When admonished that continued resistance to
the crown might lead to separation, he replied: "If you ever hear of
me joining in any such measures you have my leave to set me down
for everything wicked." While Paine was writing his "Common Sense,"
Jefferson, the reputed author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote
that he was "looking with fondness toward a reconciliation with Great
Britain." But a little while before Franklin had assured Lord
Chatham that "he had never heard in America an expression in favor of
Independence."
Virginia, the province of Washington and Jefferson, declared in favor
of "a redress of grievances, and not a revolution of government." In
November, 1775, the Assembly of Pennsylvania, Franklin's province,
elected a delegation to the Continental Congress with these
instructions: "Though the British Parliament and administration have
compelled us to resist their violence by force of arms, yet we strictly
enjoin that you dissent from and utterly reject any proposition, should
such be made, that may cause or lead to a separation from the mother
country."
"Among them all not one had been stirred by that splendid dream of a new
nation, a nation independent and free. There was but one mind and only
one that had grasped the great plan. There was one voice crying in the
wilderness. There was one herald of the dawn, one that did not hesitate
in that night of hesitancy and reluctancy."--_Dr. J. E. Roberts_.
Dr. David Ramsay, a prominent leader in the Continental Congress and a
popular historian of the Revolution, describing the effects of "Common
Sense," says: "Though that measure [Separation] a few months before was
not only foreign to their wishes, but the object of their abhorrence,
the current suddenly became so strong in its favor that it bore down all
before it."
Prof. Moses Coit Tyler: "In one sentiment all persons, Tories and
Whigs, seemed perfectly to agree, viz., in abhorrence of the project of
separation from the Empire. Suddenly, however, and within a period
of less than six months [chiefly as a result of Paine's pamphlet] the
majority of the Whigs turned completely around, and openly declared for
Independence."
"Thomas Paine brought to the study of the American Revolution a mind...
quick to see into things, and marvelous in its power of stating them
with lucidity, with liveliness and with incisive force."
It is generally supposed that the writing of "Common Sense" with its
advocacy of separation and independence was suggested by Franklin.
It was not; Franklin knew nothing of its existence prior to its
publication. What he suggested was a history of Colonial affairs
which he believed would convince the world that the grievances of the
Colonists against the mother country were just. Paine's own account of
the origin of this work is as follows:
"In October, 1775, Dr. Franklin proposed giving me such materials
as were in his hands towards completing a history of the present
transactions, and seemed desirous of having the first volume out the
next spring.. I had then formed the outlines of 'Common Sense,' and
finished nearly the first part; and as I supposed the doctor's design
in getting out a history was to open the new year with a new system, I
expected to surprise him with a production on that subject much earlier
than he thought of; and without informing him of what I was doing, got
it ready for the press as fast as I conveniently could, and sent him the
first pamphlet that was printed off."
Regarding the originality of his revolutionary ideas, "Appleton's
Cyclopedia of American Biography" says: "Beyond doubt Washington,
Franklin, and all other prominent men of the Revolutionary period gave
Paine the sole credit for everything that came from his pen."
Washington, Franklin and Jefferson were among Paine's earliest
converts. Franklin gave his book his immediate approval, and Jefferson's
endorsement soon followed. Washington, writing to Joseph Reed in the
same month that it was published, acknowledged its "sound doctrine and
unanswerable reasoning," and declared for separation.
"Jefferson, Washington and Franklin, who up to that time [publication of
'Common Sense'] had denounced even the thought of Independence,... all
changed front, and soon, not a majority, but the effective part of the
people, followed."--_T. B. Wakeman_.
"Washington, now converted, wrote to his friends in praise of 'Common
Sense'... Jefferson, John Adams, Franklin, Madison, all the great
statesmen of the time, wrote praisefully of Paine's 'flaming
arguments.'"--_Ella Wheeler Wilcox_.
"Leaders in the New York Provincial Congress considered the
advisability of answering it but came to the conclusion that it was
unanswerable."--_Encyclopedia Britannica._
An Unknown Writer of Charleston, S. C. (Feb. 14, 1776): "Who is the
author of 'Common Sense'? I can hardly refrain from adoring him. He
deserves a statue of gold."
Abigail Adams: "I am charmed with the sentiments of 'Common Sense,' and
wonder how an honest heart, one who wishes the welfare of his country
and the happiness of posterity, can hesitate one moment at adopting
them."
"'Common Sense,' like a ray of revelation, has come in season to clear
our doubts and fix our choice."
John Winthrop: "If Congress should adopt its sentiments it would satisfy
the people."
"The public mind was now fully educated to accept the doctrine of
Independence.... Thomas Paine's celebrated pamphlet 'Common Sense'
had sapped the foundation of any remaining loyalty to the British
Crown."--_John Clark Ridpath, LL. D_.
Prof. Alexander Johnston: "Thomas Paine turned the scale by the
publication of his pamphlet 'Common Sense'."
Richard Frothingham: "The great question which it treated was now
discussed at every fireside; and the favorite toast at every dinner
table was; 'May the independent principles of 'Common Sense' be
confirmed throughout the United Colonies.'"
Henry Clay Watson: "'Common Sense' effected a complete revolution in the
feelings and sentiments of the great mass of the people."
Rev. Jedediah Morse. "The change of the public mind on this occasion is
without a parallel."
Dr. Benjamin Rush: "'Common Sense' burst from the press with an
effect which has rarely been produced by types and paper in any age or
country."
Hon. Salma Hale: "The effect of the pamphlet in making converts
was astonishing, and is probably without precedent in the annals of
literature."
James Cheetham (Paine's basest calumniator): "Speaking a language which
the colonists had felt but not thought, its popularity, terrible in its
consequences to the parent country, was unexampled in the history of the
press."
General Charles Lee: "Have you [Washington] seen the pamphlet 'Common
Sense'? I never saw such a masterly irresistible performance."
"He burst forth on the world like Jove in thunder."
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History: "Its trumpet tones
awakened the continent, and made every patriot's heart beat with intense
emotion."
J. Dorman Steele, Ph. D.: "Every line glowed with the spirit of liberty,
and men's hearts were thrilled as they read."
Larned's Ready Reference History: "A more effective popular appeal never
went to the bosoms of a nation.... Its effect was instantaneous and
tremendous."
Henry Cabot Lodge: "The pamphlet marked an epoch, was a very memorable
production; from the time of its publication the tide flowing in the
direction of independence began to race with devouring swiftness to high
water mark."
Encyclopedia Britannica (10th Ed.)--"There is a complete concurrence of
testimony that Paine's pamphlet issued on the first of January, 1776,
was a turning point in the struggle, that it roused and consolidated
public feeling, and swept waverers along with the tide."
Prof. Goldwin Smith: "Colonial resolution had been screwed to the
sticking point by Tom Paine, the stormy petrel of three countries, with
his pamphlet 'Common Sense.'"
Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews: "Most potent of all as a cause of the
resolution to separate was Thomas Paine's pamphlet 'Common Sense'."
"No writing ever more instantly swung men to its humor."--_Woodrow
Wilson_.
Mary L. Booth: "This eloquent production severed the last link that
bound the Colonies to the mother country."
Mary Howitt: "The cause of Independence took as it were a definite form
from this moment."
Guilliam Tell Poussin: "It rendered the sentiment of Independence
national."
"The notion of a new State, wholly free from Great Britain, first found
full and convincing expression in Paine's 'Common Sense'."--_London
Times_.
Gen. William A. Stokes: "When 'Common Sense' was published a great blow
was struck. It was felt from New England to the Carolinas; it resounded
throughout the world."
The sympathy and assistance of liberty-loving Europeans contributed
much to the success of the Revolution, and this was due largely to the
influence of Paine's "Common Sense," which was printed in nearly every
tongue and read in nearly every country of Continental Europe. Even in
England thousands of copies were circulated, and the American party,
the party of Chatham, Fox and Burke, was greatly strengthened, while the
influence of the king and his ministry was correspondingly weakened by
the effect of its masterly arguments.
Lord Erskine: "In that great and calamitous conflict, Edmund Burke and
Thomas Paine fought in the same field together, but with very different
success. Mr. Burke spoke to a Parliament in England, such as Sir George
Saville describes it, having no ears but for sounds that flattered its
corruptions. Mr. Paine, on the other hand, spoke to the people, reasoned
with them, told them they were bound by no subjection to any sovereignty
further than their own benefit connected them, and, by these powerful
arguments, prepared the minds of the American people for that glorious,
just, and happy Revolution."
Marquis de Chastelleaux: "Since my arrival in America I had not yet seen
Mr. Paine, that author so celebrated in America and throughout Europe
by his excellent work entitled 'Common Sense.' Lafayette and myself had
asked the permission of an interview, and we waited on him
accordingly with Col. Laurens.... His patriotism and his talents are
unquestionable."
W. E. H. Lecky: "Paine's 'Common Sense'... was translated into French,
and was, if possible, even more popular in France than in America."
"The work ran through innumerable editions in America and France. The
world rang with it."--_Hon. Henry S. Randall_.
Silas DeAne: "'Common Sense' has been translated, and has had a greater
run here [in France] than in America. A person of distinction, writing
to his noble friend in office, has these words: 'I think, with you,
my dear Count, that "Common Sense" is an excellent work, and that its
author is one of the greatest legislators among the million writers that
we know.'"
Sir George Trevelyan: "It would be difficult to name any human
composition which has had an effect at once so instant, so extended,
and so lasting. It flew through numberless editions. It was pirated,
and parodied, and imitated, and translated into the language of every
country where the new Republic had well-wishers, and could hope to
procure allies.... It was reprinted in all the Colonies with a frequency
surprising at a time when Colonial printing houses were very few. Three
months from its first appearance, a hundred and twenty thousand copies
had been sold in America alone; and, before the demand ceased, it was
calculated that half a million had seen the light."
"Paine saw beyond precedents and statutes, and constitutional facts or
fictions, into the depths of human nature; and he knew that, if men are
to fight to the death, it must be for reasons which all can understand."
John Adams: "'Common Sense' was received in France and in all Europe
with rapture."
"History is to ascribe the Revolution to Thomas Paine." (Letter to
Thomas Jefferson).
John Quincy Adams: "Paine's 'Common Sense' crystalized public opinion
and was the first factor in bringing about the Revolution."
Samuel Adams: "Your 'Common Sense'... unquestionably awakened the
public mind, and led the people loudly to call for a Declaration of our
National Independence."
Parker Pillsbury: "Without his 'Common Sense,' written in 1775, we
should not have had the Declaration of Independence in 1776."
Samuel Bryan: "This book, 'Common Sense,' may be called the Book of
Genesis, for it was the beginning. From this book spread the Declaration
of Independence, that not only laid the foundation of liberty in our own
country, but the good of mankind throughout the world."
"The open movement to Independence dates from its
publication."--_Encyclopedia Britannica_ (11th Ed.)
Elkanah Watson (one of Paine's calumniators): "It everywhere flashed
conviction, and aroused a determined spirit which resulted in the
Declaration of Independence."
Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL. D.: "This spark was sufficient to rouse the
Americans, who at once signed the Declaration of Independence."
William Howitt: "It at once seized on the imagination of the public,
cast all other writers into the shades and flew in thousands and tens
of thousands all over the Colonies.... The common fire blazed up in
Congress, and the thing was done."
"He became the great oracle on the subject of governments and
constitutions."
Thomas Gaspey: "He was treated with great consideration by the members
of the Revolutionary government, who took no steps of importance without
consulting him."
Grand Dictionary Universel: "He became the political catechism of the
movement."
Dictionary of National Biography (America): "Joined the Provincial army
in the autumn [1776] and became a volunteer aid-de-camp to General
Nathaniel Greene, animating the troops by his writings [the 'Crisis']."
"The pamphlets that stirred like a trumpet call the flagging energies of
a desponding people."--_Rev. John Snyder_.
"General Greene made him one of his aides-de-camp; but an appointment on
that staff, during those weeks, carried with it very little, either of
privilege or luxury. In the flight from Fort Lee Paine lost his baggage
and his private papers; but he had kept or borrowed a pen. He began
to write at Newark, the first stage in the calamitous retreat; and
he worked all night at every halting place until his new pamphlet was
completed. It was published in Philadelphia on the 19th of December,
under the title of 'The Crisis,' and at once flew like wildfire through
all the towns and villages of the Confederacy."--_Sir George Trevelyan_.
This, the first number of the "Crisis," opens with these words: "These
are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine
patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country;
but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and
woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this
consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the
triumph."
Samuel Eliot: "His later pamphlets, issued during the war under the name
of the 'Crisis,' were of equal power [to 'Common Sense']."
Encyclopedia of Social Reform: "The 'Crisis' exerted wide influence for
Independence and Republicanism."
Albert Bushnell Hart, LL.D.: "The 'Crisis' [sixteen numbers], written
by Paine between 1776 and 1783, exercised an enormous influence over men
and events during the Revolution."
Albert Payson Terhune: "He plunged, heart and soul, into the struggle
for freedom. His 'Common Sense' and other pamphlets [the 'Crisis'] were
such strong and eloquent pleas for liberty that Washington ordered some
of them read aloud to the patriot armies."
National Cyclopedia of American Biography: "Its [the 'Crisis'] initial
number was, by the order of General Washington, read aloud to each
regiment and to each detachment."
William S. Stryker: "The effect of its strong patriotic sentences was
apparent upon the spirits of the army."