Converting Tories to Whigs: Religion and Imagined Authorship in Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Abstract

Thomas Paine's Common Sense has been of abiding interest to scholars due to its profound effect and fascinating relationships between author, text, and audiences. But why, in what has been considered a secular text, would a self-proclaimed deist adopt the persona and argument style of an evangelical to promote political independence? Reading Common Sense as employing an “imagined author” strategically constructed to voice religious arguments directed to an “imagined community” helps us understand Paine's approach to a challenging rhetorical problem and illuminates polemic communication practices in colonial America.