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.
