COMMON SENSE
"T'is time to part" (Thomas Paine)

In September 1774, the First Continental Congress was convened at the Old Statehouse (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. Most of the delegates wanted to return to their prosperous colonial lives supported by the British Empire, unaware that they would be at war by the next spring.

In January 1776, political thought was impacted dramatically by the publication of Common Sense, hailed by historians as the most brilliant pamphlet ever written. Published by THOMAS PAINE, the prose forcefully reversed all presumptions that kept Americans clinging to England. Paine was the first to publicly question hereditary rule and also focus on the vast resources of America - "there is something absurd in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island." Common Sense swept through the colonies and within six months, colonial leaders would sign a declaration of independence.

COLONIAL LEADERS
Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggarman, Thief

JOHN HANCOCK, the elegant outlaw, was voted president of the Second Continental Congress. He was shocked, however, when his friend John Adams nominated George Washington to head the army ... it was a position he had fancied for himself.

SAMUEL ADAMS quietly worked behind the scenes. Frustrated, he wrote a friend that Congress had "the vanity of the ape, the tameness of the ox, or the stupid servility of the ass."

JOHN ADAMS lobbied constantly, even obnoxiously, for unified independence. Shrewdly realizing that New England needed Southern support, his nomination of Washington as Commander-in-Chief created a strong ally from prosperous Virginia.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, still in London in 1774-75, was accused of stealing and circulating the contents of an anti-American letter. Bitterly disenchanted, the 69-year-old returned home where he joined delegates pushing for independence.