During the first months of 1776, this pro-Independence document sold 120,000 copies across 13 colonies (N. America)

 Thomas Paine's

PAMPHLET

Common Sense

published Jan. 10, 1776

became an instant

bestseller :

among the 2.5 million

citizens of the 13 colonies,

Paine's essay - admonition

sold 120,000 copies over

the first three months of

1776!