Common Sense - AUthors and bio
Thomas Paine was an English American writer and pamphleteer whose "Common Sense" and other writings influenced the American Revolution, and helped pave the way for the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Thetford, England on January 29, 1737. At the time, his father worked as a corset maker. Paine attended the Thetford Grammar school for much of his childhood, by by age twelve, he had flunked out. After that, he worked as an apprentice to his father for several years before leaving. Thomas then had several other jobs throughout England. On September 27, 1759, Thomas Paine married a woman named Mary Lambert. She became pregnant soon after their marriage, however the daughter and wife died during childbirth. Throughout the 1760's, Thomas worked in several low level government positions, including a job in Sussex, England, a place where monarchies were traditionally opposed. It was here that Paine was first involved in civic matters. On March 26, 1771, at age 34, he remarried to Elizabeth Ollive, his landlord's daughter. From 1772 to 1774, Paine was part of a group that protested for better pay and working conditions. In June of 1774, Paine met Benjamin Franklin in London, who helped him to immigrate to Philadelphia. In January 1775, he became the chief editor of Pennsylvania Magazine. Just after the Revolution began, Paine published his most famous work, Common Sense, in 1776. He was very influential during the revolution, and became an important foreign official for the U.S afterwards. Paine died at the age of 72, in New York City.
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Common Sense was a pamphlet that inspired and informed Americans about the need for independence. It was written in a very simple language that could be understood by the vast majority of America. At the time, Massachusetts was the only colony that was invested in the war, so Paine sought to address the rest of the colonies about the issues. Thomas Paine addressed the people of American and brought to their attention the fact that their suffering and the suffering of the other colonies is caused directly by the reigning British monarchy. It could be broken up into 4 parts. In section 1, he makes a distinction between society and government. Section 2 discusses monarchy. In section 3, the hostilities between England and the American colonies are examined. Finally, in the section 4, he expresses his views about the potential of American military at the time of the Revolution.
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State of the u.s.a
At the time of Common Sense, America was still under British control, but was just beginning the Revolutionary War. It consisted of the original 13 colonies, but were still governed by Britain.