Answer:
The answer to the question: The publication of:___ in 1776 helped to convinc colonists of the merits of independence from Britain and of the superiority of a republican form of government over a monarchy, would be: Thomas Paine´s Common Sense.
Step-by-step explanation:
Even after the initiation of the Revolution, even presented with the evidence of the need to separate from Britain, most Americans did not support the idea of independence. The process was very slow and difficult, with a lot prefering to remain neutral and even Americans supporting the British against their own connationals. However, in 1776 Thomas Paine published his famous Common Sense, a pamphlet in which Paine not only used the ideals of the natural rights theory, but also the right for equality, as arguments against the idea of monarchic rule, and especially against the abuses of the British monarchy. Expounding on these principles, and putting into writing all the wrongs that the British had done against the colonies, Paine´s document became the turning of the tide in favor of supporting the American Revolution.