Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence — Summer 1776 and the Decision for Independence

Morning Meeting + standing recite Three Promises. Read aloud one paragraph from Common Sense — Paine's plain-language argument for independence.

• Standing recite Three Promises
• Read Common Sense opening
• Affirm: 'Today we learn about the summer of 1776 — how the colonies decided for independence.'

COMMON SENSE: Thomas Paine published Common Sense in January 1776, anonymously at first. The pamphlet's plain-language argument for independence (rejecting monarchy as government type, rejecting King George III as legitimate, framing the colonies as a republic of free men) sold 100,000+ copies in 3 months — astonishing for a colonial population of ~2.5 million. Paine's pamphlet shifted colonial opinion decisively toward independence. Apply MG-7 routine. ABIGAIL ADAMS 'REMEMBER THE LADIES' LETTER MARCH 31 1776: Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John Adams (then a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia drafting a new code of laws): 'I long to hear that you have declared an independency — and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could.' JOHN ADAMS'S REPLY APRIL 14 1776: 'As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh. We have been told that our Struggle has loosened the bands of Government every where. That Children and Apprentices were disobedient — that schools and Colleges were grown turbulent — that Indians slighted their Guardians and Negroes grew insolent to their Masters. But your Letter was the first Intimation that another Tribe more numerous and powerful than all the rest were grown discontented.' [John Adams's reply is significant — he dismisses Abigail's request with humor but explicitly NAMES the parallel struggles of Children/Apprentices, Indigenous nations ('Indians'), and enslaved African Americans ('Negroes') — confirming that all these struggles were happening at the moment of the Founding.] MERCY OTIS WARREN: also wrote satirical pre-Revolutionary plays including 'The Group' 1775 that were widely read — Patriot women writers organized public opinion. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE FINAL: July 2 1776 the Continental Congress voted for independence; July 4 the final Declaration text was adopted. Holding MG-13 Founding Contradiction T-chart open in classroom — children review both columns.

• Plain language + mass distribution = mass political impact.

  model Plain language (Paine wrote for the common colonist, not for elite intellectuals); rejected monarchy as government type (not just King George III); framed the colonies as a future republic of free men; published anonymously initially with broad appeal. Sold 100,000+ copies in 3 months — the most widely read political pamphlet of colonial America.

  prompt Why did Thomas Paine's Common Sense have such mass impact?
• Women's exclusion was raised explicitly in 1776.

  model Sourcing: Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams (delegate to Continental Congress drafting new laws); March 31 1776 from Braintree MA. Contextualization: at the moment the Continental Congress was drafting independence; women's exclusion from full citizenship was the lived reality. Close reading: 'Remember the Ladies' and 'Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.' NMAI 5th move: Abigail Adams's white-elite-woman's voice is present; whose are absent — enslaved Black women, Indigenous women, working-class white women.

  prompt Apply MG-7 to Abigail Adams's March 31 1776 letter.
• John Adams's dismissal is itself a primary-source confirmation of the Founding Contradiction.

  model John Adams's reply explicitly NAMES the parallel struggles of Children/Apprentices, Indigenous nations ('Indians slighted their Guardians'), and enslaved African Americans ('Negroes grew insolent to their Masters'). His reply is HISTORICAL CONFIRMATION that all these struggles were happening at the moment of the Founding — the Founding Contradiction was not a hidden truth but an EXPLICITLY NAMED truth dismissed by some Founders.

  prompt Why does John Adams's April 14 1776 reply matter even though he dismissed Abigail's request?

• Why was Common Sense so widely read?
• Apply MG-7: what does Abigail Adams ask for in her March 31 1776 letter?
• What does John Adams's April 14 1776 reply tell us about the moment of Founding?

Children apply MG-7 full 4-question routine to Common Sense AND Abigail Adams's March 31 1776 letter AND John Adams's April 14 1776 reply. Three primary sources from the same moment — children practice the historian's move of holding multiple sources together.

M-5-F-HIS-18-B Illustration

Illustration of Thomas Paine at his writing desk with the printed Common Sense pamphlet in front of him. Caption: 'THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809). English-born Patriot writer. Published Common Sense January 1776 — initially anonymously. The pamphlet's plain-language argument for independence sold 100,000+ copies in 3 months. Most widely read political pamphlet of colonial America. Paine also wrote The Crisis pamphlet series during the war (December 1776: These are the times that try men's souls).' Style: respectful adult portrait with historical document context.

• In groups, fill out MG-7 on Abigail Adams's March 31 1776 letter + John Adams's April 14 1776 reply as a paired primary-source set.

  scaffold Sentence frames; partner check.
• Add to MG-13 Founding Contradiction T-Chart (review from Lesson 12) one additional entry: women's exclusion from the Declaration's 'all men are created equal' framing.

  scaffold Use MG-13 reference.

• Why was Common Sense so widely read?
• What does Abigail Adams ask for in her March 31 1776 letter?
• Why does John Adams's reply confirm the Founding Contradiction?

• Standing recite Three Promises
• Preview tomorrow: the American Revolution — multi-perspective with women, Indigenous nations, free Black + enslaved Black, French alliance — TRAUMA-INFORMED MG-15 protocol on Dunmore's Proclamation. MG-15 caregiver letter going home today.

• Find one source on Common Sense's 1776 impact (Library of Congress Teachers materials). Bring back one fact about Paine's distribution strategy.