Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense as a recent immigrant, not a pre-planned agitator

Evidence

In a chance encounter that gave rise to Common Sense, Paine met Philadelphia physician and patriot leader Benjamin Rush in March 1775. … They met several times during 1775. Late that year, “when the subject of American Independence began to be agitated in conversation, I observed the publick mind to be loaded with an immense mass of prejudice and error relative to it,” Rush recalled. “At this time I called upon Mr. Paine, and suggested to him the propriety of preparing our citizens for a perpetual separation of our country from Great Britain, by means of a work of such length that would obviate all the objections to it. He seized the idea with avidity.” — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 62 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Benjamin Rush commissioned Common Sense to overcome public prejudice against independence. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 62

Broader Connections

• Benjamin Rush commissioned Common Sense to overcome public prejudice against independence. #qualifies (0.85) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 62