Written in Jefferson’s own hand, and including a more damning condemnation of slavery, the early draft is part of a major new America 250 exhibit at the American Philosophical Society.

A plainly written pamphlet of political ideas released in January of 1776 were those of a fairly recent arrival to America, who through this pamphlet, postscripts, and subsequent editions, increased ...

In his new book, “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,” Professor Turley explores the meaning and future of democracy on the American Revolution’s 250th anniversary.

In January of 1776, citizens of the Thirteen Colonies were roused by the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense, a 47-page book of moral and political arguments intended to inspire the common ...

Bust of Thomas Paine in New Rochelle, Westchester County, where he lived from 1802 to 1806. Two hundred fifty years ago last month, Thomas Paine published “Common Sense,” a pamphlet that digested ...

Few revolutionary tracts match in importance Tom Paine’s Common Sense. Published for the first time on January 9, 1776, 250 years ago this month, the pamphlet, a frontal assault on the entire ...

This is the third in a series. Today in the world of instant communication, a post can go viral and reach millions of people within hours. But in the 18th century, one post went what was viral for the ...

This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here. Reading it now, Paine’s words are a kind of portal back to the ...

Daily perspectives on culture and politics from voices that matter. Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” faced enough challenges getting published in its own time. Its call for American independence in 1776 ...

While Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence turned the smoldering embers of rebellion into the glorious fireworks of independence and revolution, it was a short pamphlet published six months ...