Common Sense is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive writing, Paine collected various moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for an equal government. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation. Common Sense made public a persuasive and impassioned case for independence, which had not yet been given serious intellectual consideration in either Britain or the American colonies.