THOMAS PAINE 1737 1809 AUTHOR AND POLITICAL THINKER PAINE THOMAS 1737 1809 COLONIES REVOLUTIONARY WAR ELECTIONS AND POLITICS THOMAS PAINE THOMAS PAINE WAS BORN IN THETFORD ENGLAND HE HAD LITTLE FORMAL EDUCATION AND BEGAN WORKING AT AGE 13 HE WORKED AT A VARIETY OF OCCUPATIONS UNTIL HE WENT BANKRUPT IN 1774 THAT YEAR HE MET BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WHO HELPED HIM SETTLE IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES PAINE ARRIVED IN PHILADELPHIA AND SOON FOUND WORK AS A MAGAZINE EDITOR IN JANUARY 1776 PAINE PUBLISHED A PAMPHLET TITLED COMMON SENSE WHICH CALLED FOR INDEPENDENCE FROM ENGLAND BETWEEN 1776 AND 1783 PAINE PUBLISHED 16 ISSUES OF A PATRIOTIC PUBLICATION CALLED CRISIS HE SERVED AS SECRETARY TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS'S COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS FROM 1777 TO 1779 BUT RESIGNED AFTER A POLITICAL DISPUTE AFTERWARDS PAINE BECAME A CLERK OF THE PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE WHERE HE SPENT HIS OWN MONEY ON SUPPLIES FOR SOLDIERS IN 1787 PAINE MOVED TO ENGLAND BUT HIS SUPPORT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND HIS EFFORTS TO CONVINCE THE BRITISH TO OVERTHROW THEIR OWN MONARCHY LED TO HIS CONVICTION ON CHARGES OF TREASON HE WAS FORCED TO LEAVE ENGLAND SOON AFTER HE SETTLED IN FRANCE HE WAS IMPRISONED AS AN ENGLISHMAN HE WAS RELEASED ONLY WHEN JAMES MONROE WHO WAS THEN A DIPLOMAT ASSURED THE FRENCH THAT PAINE WAS AN AMERICAN PAINE RETURNED TO UNITED STATES IN 1802 ONLY TO FIND THAT HIS WRITINGS HAD MADE HIM AN OUTCAST PAINE SPENT THE REST OF HIS LIFE IN POVERTY AND ISOLATION ON HIS FARM
