Description
On the 10th of January, 1776, an anonymous author published a humble pamphlet that would forever alter the trajectory of the North American Continent. Titled simply “Common Sense”, it was the first viral mass-communications event in American history. Though the controversial pamphlet was quickly banned in England, the printing presses of the 13 Colonies were out of King George III’s immediate reach, immune to his would-be censorship. Before the crown could react, it was already too late. Hundreds of thousands of copies flooded the states during a period when top-selling publications would sell only a couple thousand at best, a figure nothing short of staggering for the time. The writer, later revealed to be one Thomas Paine, articulated his message in a way that was relatable to the masses, expressing a need for American independence that resonated resoundingly with the common man. Its words rang aloud in bars & town squares, cementing in the public sentiment a desire to separate from the tyranny of English rule. On the 12th of April, North Carolina became the the first Colony to authorize its delegates to vote for independence in the Continentinental Congress. Then, on July 4th, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence : A humble pamphlet had fundamentally altered the course of history. Having witnessed the impact of Common Sense’s virality, the founding fathers recognized the power of the free, uninhibited exchange of ideas, & enshrined the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution into law to protect free speech for posterity. This edition of Thomas Paine’s paradigm-altering magnum opus was created from high-resolution photos of a First Edition, original printing of Common Sense from its initial release on January 10th, 1776. The full-sized, public domain photos are viewable online in the UPenn Library’s Colenda Digital Collection.