Thomas Paine Research Paper

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Thomas Paine is well known for writing his pamphlet for revolution: Common Sense, which strengthened the American flame of hatred against England, the very country he was born in. Thomas Paine was born in Thetford and passed away at the age of twelve. He began apprenticeship under his father, who was a corseter but, yet again, he failed. “So, now age 19, Paine went to sea. This adventure didn't last too long, and by 1768 he found himself as an excise (tax) officer in England” (Independent Hall Association).1 After being fired from his job as a tax collector twice, Paine wrote The Case of the Officers of Exercise to attempt to get a pay raise for tax officers. Fortunately, Thomas Paine met Benjamin Franklin in London and with his help, Paine emigrated to Philadelphia. A new …show more content…
Therefore, he didn’t receive as much schooling as someone would expect given what he would do in his life. Paine could have had some knowledge of corset-making from his father, but that isn’t significant to his career or education. He was mentored by Benjamin Franklin and self-educated in the art of journalism. Thomas Paine was also inspired by scholars and philosophers, such as Voltaire. Paine started his journalism career as the managing editor of Philadelphia Magazine and also wrote in the magazine, mocking the pacifistic lifestyle of Quakers. Thomas Paine was inspired by many influential figures from the Age of Enlightenment. One of Paine’s greatest influences was Voltaire, the famous line of, “all men are created equal” inspired by Voltaire’s own ideas. Another man from the Enlightenment that inspired Common Sense was Benjamin Rush, who gave Paine the idea to write the essay in the first place. While the writing was all Paine’s, Rush did come up with the name Common Sense to replace Thomas Paine’s name, Plain Truth. Paine resonated with John Locke’s statement of humans needing independence; both men had similar