Thomas Paine
Brandon Klimek
About Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737 in Thetford, England. Thomas's father had very big expectations for his son, but by the age of 12 he had dropped out of school. After he dropped out, he started to "job shadow" his father but he had failed at that also. By the age of 19 Thomas had set out to sea, but his adventure at sea did not last very long. He was soon a excise or tax officer in England, he also didn't do too well at that role because he was fired twice in 4 years. In 1772 he published "The Case of the Officers of Excise," arguing for a pay raise for excise officers. In 1774, he met Benjamin Franklin who helped him migrate to Philadelphia.
Journalism
Thomas Paine had many different jobs from working as at sea to being a tax officer in England, but one of the jobs he did best at was journalism. When Thomas Paine moved to Philadelphia his career changed to journalism, he suddenly became a very important person. In 1776 he published a strong defense of American Independence called "Common Sense." Thomas Paine traveled with the continental army, although he was not a successful soldier he did help inspire the army by creating "The American Crisis" (1776-83) This pamphlet was so popular, it was read by more people than today watch the super bowl.
Work Cited
"Thomas Paine." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2014.