The End of "The Age of Reason" By the end of the 18th century, America was reaching a stalemate in religious faith, around 1790 10% of the population The non-Indian population of America were members of a formal church. Before and after the American Revolution, literary works such as Thomas Paine's “Common Sense” and Benjamin Franklin's “The Way to Wealth” began to form a national strand of thought among early Americans. These views were somewhat opposite to those introduced through Puritanism and the Enlightenment during the 17th century. However, ultimately, traditional religion overcame the pressure exerted by the new schools of thought floating around the end of the 18th century. Thomas Paine's “Common Sense” was more than just a piece of literature that planted the seed of deism, it also helped inspire a nation to rebel against England and claim independence from a government deemed unjust and unfit to control the colonies. In “Common Sense” Paine leads people to believe that Americans cannot reconcile with England. His aim was to divert American anger away from the small parliamentary issues they were resisting, and towards what he saw as the main problem, which was the English Constitution itself. Paine argued that it was simply "common sense" for Americans to completely break with a government that could produce a corrupt ruler like George III. In closing his paper Paine argues: "And as a man, who is attached to a prostitute, is unfit to choose or judge a wife, so any prejudice in favor of a rotten constitution of government will prevent us from discerning a good one." With Paine making this observation, I translate Paine to mean that the insular kingdom of England was no more fitted to rule the American continent, than a satellite was fitted to rule the sun. This pamphlet was published in January, 1776, at that time. the colonies were nothing more than miniature countries existing next to each other. As news of the pamphlet spread during that year, a strong sense of national unity and the need for independence from the English began to form in people's minds. Later that same year, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, with the help of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams Jefferson used ideas borrowed from John Locke's theories; for example, governments are created to protect the rights to life, liberty, and property.