Page 44 - ASM Book 9/2020

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Independence Flames Grow
1776
• JANUARY 10 - AMERICAN ACTION: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was published in Philadelphia.
• FEBRUARY 27 - AMERICAN ACTION: 1,000 American patriots defeated 1,600 British loyalists at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina.
• MARCH 4 to 17 - AMERICAN ACTION: American forces captured Dorchester Heights that overlooked Boston harbor.
• APRIL 6 - AMERICAN ACTION: The Continental Congress declared all American shipping ports open, except for British vessels.
• APRIL 12 - AMERICAN ACTION: North Carolina’s Fourth Provincial Congress adopted the Halifax Resolves that empowered the North Carolina delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence.
• MAY 2 - FRENCH ACTION: French King Louis XVI began providing secret military aid to the American cause for independence. Spain promised to give support.
• MAY 10 - AMERICAN ACTION: The Continental Congress encouraged the colonies to write constitutions and establish independent governments.
One of the most significant events that led to American independence was the publication of Common Sense on January 10, 1776. Published anonymously by Thomas Paine, the 50-page pamphlet was signed “Written by an Englishman.”
During the first year it sold more than 500,000 copies with 25 separate printings. Paine donated the royalties to the American Continental Army.
Common Sense played a major role in influencing public opinion to support independence. Written in language that even the uneducated people of the time could understand, Paine: (1) ridiculed the idea of a small, island nation ruling
a vast continent; (2) presented a powerful argument that independence from British rule was America’s only choice; (3) believed that reconciliation was not a good option for Americas; and, (4) outlined the advantages that separation from England would provide. His writing helped people to realize that the actions of King George III and Parliament had already shattered the bonds between the America people and the British government.
Thomas Paine had only lived in America for two years before Common Sense was published. Coming from a humble background, he had a hard time finding his place in England. He had been a staymaker, a maker of ladies’ corsets and men’s vests, a cobbler, a weaver and a tax collector. After his marriage failed, he decided to leave England. Benjamin Franklin, whom he met by happenstance when Franklin was in London, helped him immigrate to Philadelphia, where he found work writing for the Pennsylvania Magazine.
“Common
Sense” changed
Minds