Common Sense

The winter of 1775-76 was not a good one for the Americans. Defeat after defeat had followed the early success, and many were rethinking their own involvement in the revolution against the British. Congress was desperate, money was gone, troops were leaving as short enlistments expired. And everywhere, Washington’s tiny and shrinking army was on the retreat. The flame of liberty, seemingly, was extinguished. On the side of the road, as the Army retreated, one man took every opportunity, not to complain or commensurate over their lot with his fellow soldiers. Instead, he took every chance he had to scribble words on paper. As the Army retreated, he wrote ever more furiously. His words flowing from heart, were inflammatory. and the fire they would re-kindle, would lead to actions which hitherto, had been the words of radicals and rabble-rousers. When the words he wrote were published, they became the best selling book in the history of The United States. While some of what he wrote is occasionally remembered today, such phrases such as “Summer Soldiers” or “Sunshine Patriots,” his deeper meaning resonated with Americans. And as we watch the world today, it is that deeper meaning of “Common Sense,” to which we should apply ourselves, lest we also become the Summer Soldier or Sunshine Patriots.