Paine grew up in England, sailed with the British navy, moved to America in 1774 and produced his British-bashing "Common Sense" two years later. View Enlarged Image
John Adams often disagreed with the more radical Founding Father Thomas Paine, author of the crucial pamphlet "Common Sense."
Paine had immigrated from England in 1774 and two years later told Americans why they needed complete independence from the mother country.
His pamphlet became the biggest seller per capita in American publishing history and almost single-handedly sparked the Revolution.
Paine didn't stop there. Through the rebellion, he wrote eloquently to boost the spirits of the Continental Army and the Colonists.
Years after Adams stood as America's second president, he admitted: "Without the pen of the author of 'Common Sense,' the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain. I know not whether many in the world have had more influence. ... Call it the Age of Paine."
Paine (1737-1809) was born in Thetford on England's east coast. At 13 he became his corset-making dad's apprentice and soon joined the British navy on the high seas.
Returning to England in 1759, he married, but his wife died in childbirth, along with the infant, while a corset shop he had opened failed. He married again in 1771, but divorced after three years.
Meanwhile, Paine opened a tobacco shop, which went out of business. He became a tax collector but clashed with superiors and was fired. In 1773 he had to sell his possessions to avoid debtors' prison.
- Wrote "Common Sense," which stirred American Colonists to fight for independence.
- Overcame: Comfort of many Americans with status quo as a Colony.
- Lesson: Know when to stick to your most important principles and when to be flexible.
- "The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."
On To America
Moving to London, he became friends with enthusiasts for the European Enlightenment, advocates of science and reason, including Benjamin Franklin. Paine had been writing articles on political rights, and Franklin thought he might do well in Philadelphia, the American political, cultural and commercial capital of the Colonies that had many printing presses.
Armed with a recommendation letter, Paine arrived in November 1774 and soon had a job as editor of the new Pennsylvania Magazine.
At the time, full independence for the Colonies had barely been mentioned. Benjamin Rush, a physician who would be one of the Founding Fathers, embraced it privately, but was concerned that speaking about it openly would hurt his practice.
Knowing that Paine didn't care about such pressure, Rush encouraged him to write on the topic, suggesting the title "Common Sense." It appeared as a 46-page pamphlet and was a sensation.
"Pamphlets were easier to produce than books and more durable than newspapers and posters; they were the preferred form of political debate," Peter Conn, author of the Teaching Co. audio course "Great American Bestsellers," told IBD.