Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) was born in Thetford, England, and was brought to America by Benjamin Franklin two years before the American Revolution. An activist, philosopher, and revolutionary, Paine went on to write the two most influential works encouraging the revolution: Common Sense and the pamphlet series The American Crisis. Following America’s independence from England, Paine moved to France in 1790, where he be...