Republican charisma and the American revolution: The textual persona of Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Abstract

By measures of impact alone, Thomas Paine might be considered the charismatic leader of the American Revolution and his Common Sense its most important manifesto. Psychological and sociological theories of charisma, however, are hard‐pressed to account for the impact of Paine and his pamphlet. Written anonymously, Common Sense did not derive its power from the reputation of its author, nor did the text itself project the image of a charismatic leader as conventionally understood. Instead, Common Sense exemplified a “new rhetoric” and a new style of charismatic leadership‐a “republican charisma"‐more in tune with the emerging egalitarian ethos of revolutionary America.