USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Centuries before the existence of the internet, Common Sense managed to go viral, selling an estimated 500, 000 copies. By the end of the Revolutionary War, an estimated half-million copies were in circulation throughout the colonies.

Detailed explanation-2: -In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time (2.5 million), it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. As of 2006, it remains the all-time best-selling American title and is still in print today.

Detailed explanation-3: -One of the main reasons Thomas Paine’s pamphlet became so popular was because Paine, unlike many writers from his time, used a lot of, well, common sense arguments that average people could understand.

Detailed explanation-4: -Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. Originally published anonymously, “Common Sense” advocated independence for the American colonies from Britain and is considered one of the most influential pamphlets in American history.

Detailed explanation-5: -Common sense is the knowledge that all humans have. Such knowledge is unspoken and unwritten – we take it for granted. We acquire it imperceptibly from the day we are born. For example, “animals don’t drive cars” or “my mother is older than me”.