Thomas Paine
American patriot, author, philosopher
Born: February 9, 1737, in Norfolk, England
Died: June 8, 1809, in New York City
Lived in: Bordentown, New Jersey
New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2013: Historical

Often referred to as the “Father of the American Revolution,” Thomas Paine helped foster the American colonists’ break from England with words, rather than swords. His landmark pamphlet, “Common Sense,” published early in the pivotal year 1776, promoted concepts of independence, equality, democracy, and representative government in a way that ordinary colonists could easily understand and relate to.

Remarkably, Paine had arrived in the Colonies less than 14 months prior to the publication of “Common Sense.” Born in England, he was the son of a Quaker father and an Anglican mother. At 13, he was apprenticed to his father, a corset maker. At 19, he served briefly as a sailor, then returned to England and established a shop as a corset maker. He later landed government work as an excise tax collector, but was fired twice, the second time after joining fellow tax collectors in a bid for better pay and working conditions.

Disgusted with England, Paine, carrying a letter of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin, whom he had met in London, emigrated to Philadelphia. After a treacherous crossing during which he contracted typhoid fever, Paine arrived in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774. Within four months, he was hired as the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine, where he began publishing essays aimed at influencing American thought on controversial subjects such as workers’ rights (which he favored) and slavery (which he opposed).

In January 1776, Paine delivered “Common Sense,” his major contribution to the American cause. In the words of historian Joseph Ellis, the 47-page pamphlet “swept through the colonies like a firestorm, destroying any final vestige of loyalty to the British crown.” In “Common Sense,” Paine denounced the British monarchy, promoted self-rule, and espoused the idea that government was a “necessary evil” that should exist to serve the people.

Some 100,000 copies of “Common Sense” were sold; tens of thousands more were bootlegged and distributed throughout the Colonies. Its words were read aloud in taverns, flaming the sentiment for revolution. The Declaration of Independence, which incorporated many of Paine’s ideas, followed just seven months later.

Later in 1776, Paine published a series of pamphlets under the title “The American Crisis,” which sought to inspire his fellow colonists in their armed struggle. In the first pamphlet, as he pondered the challenges facing George Washington’s Continental Army, he coined the iconic phrase, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

After America had won its independence, Paine returned for a time to Europe, where his next important work, “The Rights of Man,” written in two parts, expressed his support for the French Revolution. It supposedly was read by millions. Another, more controversial work, “The Age of Reason,” published in three parts starting in 1794, challenged institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the bible.

In 1793, Paine had moved with his wife and their three sons to a home he purchased on Farnsworth, Avenue, in Bordentown, New Jersey; it was the only home and property he ever owned. He lived there on and off until his death.

Bordentown commemorated Paine’s contributions to America’s freedom with a statue unveiled in 1997. An earlier statue of Paine, dedicated July 4, 1950, in Burnham Park, Morristown, depicts him writing “The American Crisis.”