Common Sense Was Not Enough

With a May 1776 Pennsylvania election going sideways, was independence doomed? Not with Paine and compatriots, during the weeks before the Declaration, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. William Hogeland (Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent) and Richard Briles Moriarty (TPHA Board member and Paine scholar) escort you on the roller-coaster ride that made independence possible.