The first No Kings Day was 250 years ago
Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’
On April 19, 1775, the first battles of the American Revolution broke out at Lexington and Concord. In Massachusetts, the event is still commemorated as Patriots’ Day.
On July 4, 1776, the political battle of the American colonies against Britain was officially declared in Philadelphia, and of course it is remembered yearly as Independence Day.
There was another monumental day along the road to independence that isn’t officially celebrated. It was 250 years ago — January 10, 1776. It could be called Common Sense Day, after the title of the pamphlet written by Thomas Paine and published then in Philadelphia.
When Paine took pen to paper, the colonists who resisted British rule were far from united on the course ahead. Should they risk a war against the world’s most powerful military? Or strive for the best settlement they could get from London?
In titling his essay Common Sense, Paine chose wisely. For in the see-saw battle over …
