'Even brutes do not devour their young,' he wrote. Using strong, richly graphic images that aroused anger in his readers, Paine compared George to a 'father-king' who relished his children, the Americans, as his main meal. In it, he depicted King George as a tyrant, a co-conspirator in Parliament's attempt to destroy the natural rights of the American colonists.

Title page, 'Common Sense', by Thomas Paine Finally, on January 10, 1776, Paine published Common Sense, a forty-seven-page pamphlet that advocated American independence in language the common man could understand and, ultimately, defend. A brief paragraph might take him days or even weeks, because he scrutinized each sentence. Paine was a painstakingly diligent writer. At nightfall, he visited taverns to engage in political debate and drink. When they encouraged him to detail his arguments in a single pamphlet Paine obliged by writing Common Sense.įrom late autumn 1775 until the publication of the tract in January, 1776, Paine spent his days in his rented rooms along the Philadelphia waterfront, writing about revolution. But colonists wanted to read more.Īfter the British attacks on Lexington and Concord in the spring of 1775 evoked growing sympathy for the American cause, some of Congress's greatest advocates of independence, including Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush, planned to use Paine to test public opinion before making a definitive commitment themselves. When Paine accused the English government of limiting the 'social and political opportunities' of American women and encouraging Indians to attack innocent white settlers, then concluded with a prophetic statement that equated American independence with the 'cause of God and humanity,' Aiken dismissed him.

Most of his early contributions were light-hearted, informative essays, but his best works were those that violated Aitken's policy by lashing out at British rule. While the printer, Scotsman Robert Aitken, set the policies for the newspaper, ensuring that all articles would 'avoid the suspicion of prejudice on the controversial issues of religion and politics,' Paine submitted nearly a fourth of all published articles, writing under the pseudonyms of 'Atlanticus,' 'Aesop,' and 'Vox Populi.' Having lost his job as a poorly paid tax collector for trying to obtain better conditions for his fellow workers, he immigrated to America in November 1774.Īrriving in Philadelphia with letters of introduction from Benjamin Franklin, whom he had met in London, Paine soon secured employment as an editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine. Thomas Paine,by Matthew Pratt, circa 1790.īorn in Thetford, England, on January 29, 1737, Tom Paine spent the first thirty-seven years of his life in obscurity.

Thomas paine and common sense