June 29 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and American Independence

Brett Barker is Chair of the Department of History and International Studies at UW-Stevens Point where he is a Professor of US history. Two hundred and fifty years ago, American colonists declared their independence. Yet we often forget that they had been at war with Great Britain for over a year. In the period between the outbreak of war in the spring of 1775 and July 4, 1776, no other leader, battle, speech, or pamphlet did more to persuade a majority of colonists to declare independence than did Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense. Prof. Barker explains the arguments and genius contained in those 47 pages, and explores how they helped create the United States.
Kate and Mark Saunders sponsored this program.