On 1774, Thomas Paine met Benjamin Franklin. After they met, Franklin helped Paine emigrate to Philadelphia. Thomas Paine had a few interesting jobs. He was a privateer,a tax collector,and then he established a shop in Sandwich,Kent. On September 27th,1759, he married Mary Lambert. They had 1 child,but it died at birth. In 1775, Paine went to London to become a school teacher. On January 10th,1776, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet that would change history. The pamphlet was called, Common Sense. Common Sense was the 1st pamphlet to inspire American Independence. It also inspired the 13 colonies to fight and win for independence. This pamphlet made him the most successful pamphleteer of all time. It sold around 150,000 copies. The Common Sense was the pathway to the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Paine was fascinated with the French Revolution. He became so obsessed with the French Revolution that he took a trip to France in 1790. In his spare time,he tried to invent a smokeless candle and an iron bridge. He wrote a book about the French Revolution called, The Rights of Man. The book was published on March 13th and it sold millions of copies. During his visit in France, Paine was arrested because he voted against the execution of King Henry XVI. He was in prison from 1793-1794. During his imprisonment,he wrote another book called, The Age of Reason. Thomas Paine was considered an atheist because he said that the Bible was not the word of God. He returned to America on October 1802. For the remainder of his lifetime, he spent his time in America with very poor health and decided to pick up the habit of drinking. He lost the majority of his friends and was banned from going out into public.
Thomas Paine died on June 8th,1809,in Greenwich Village,New York City.Only a small handful of people came to his funeral. He was 72. He became history’s most successful writer and he has influenced many people like Thomas Edison,Thomas Jefferson,and Benjamin Franklin. His 1st pamphlet,The Common Sense, one of the many reasons why America went to war and fought for American Independence.