Author: Common Sense was written by Thomas Paine, a British born American who was known to be a revolutionary and a radical.
Place and Time: Common Sense was written on January 9th, 1776. It was distributed all over the American Colonies.
Prior Knowledge is limited but not nonexistent. I knew that Common Sense was some sort of document inciting rebellion against England. The name also hints that it may be an attempt to target the argument for revolution towards the common people of the colonies.
Audience: The genius of the work lay in its intended audience. It was written in simple language for the time and used highly logical arguments along with an entertaining writing style. Thus, it was highly successful with the common people of the colonies. It reached a good number of them as well since it was reproduced freely as a cheap pamphlet.
Reason: Thomas Paine desired to present his view that America should become an independent nation. He saw this as obvious and wanted to present his very logical viewpoint as well as advice on the future conduct of the American nation to the masses. It was both an attempt to inform and to strengthen the revolutionary cause.
The Main Point of Common Sense is that continued union with Britain is unnecessary, dangerous, unhealthy to the wellbeing of the colonies, and, most of all, in direct opposition to common sense. Paine supports his point by systematically identifying and obliterating all the arguments against it. He also provides several viewpoints on the necessity of good foreign relations and the methods with which to wage a successful Revolutionary War.
Significance: Common Sense was the first work to ask directly for separation from Great Britain. It was extremely effective in reaching the common people. At the height of its popularity, only the Bible surpassed Common Sense in sales. Due to its eloquent arguments and accessibility it was instrumental in securing support for the American Revolution. It also described many American ideals and gave abundant advice, including a proposal for a U.S. Constitution. Common Sense summed up the abundant dislike for Great Britain's policies and suggested the next logical step.
