Search Type
  • All
  • Subject
  • Title
  • Author
  • Publisher
  • Series Title
Search Title

Download

Common Sense

Common Sense( )
Author: Paine, Thomas
ISBN:978-1-62910-061-6
Publication Date:Aug 2013
Publisher:Peach Tree Press
Imprint:Adams Bradford
Book Format:Paperback
List Price:USD $9.99
Author Biography
Paine, Thomas (Author)
Born to parents with Quaker leanings, Thomas Paine grew up amid modest circumstances in the rural environs of Thetford, England. As the recipient of what he termed "a good moral education and a tolerable stock of useful learning," little in Paine's early years seemed to suggest that he would one day rise to a stunning defense of American independence in such passionate and compelling works as Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis essays (1776-83).

Paine's early years were characterized by a constant struggle to remain financially solvent while pursuing a number of nonintellectual activities. Nevertheless, the young Paine read such Enlightenment theorists as Isaac Newton and John Locke and remained dedicated to the idea that education was a lifelong commitment. From 1753 to 1759, Paine worked alternately as a sailor, a staymaker, and a customs officer. Between 1759 and 1772, he married twice. His first wife died within a year of their marriage, and Paine separated amicably from his second wife after a shop they operated together went bankrupt. While these circumstances seemed gloomy, Paine fortuitously made the acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin in London in 1773. Impressed by Paine's self-education, Franklin encouraged the young man to venture to America where he might prosper.

Arriving in Philadelphia in 1774, Paine quickly found himself energized by the volatile nature of Revolutionary politics. Working as an editor of Pennsylvania Magazine, Paine found a forum for his passionate radical views. In the years that followed, Paine became increasingly committed to American independence, and to his conviction that the elitist and corrupt government that had ruled over him in England had little business extending its corrosive colonial power to the States. Moved by these beliefs, P



Featured Books

Good and Mad
Traister, Rebecca
Paperback: $18.00
What Have We Here?
Williams, Billy Dee
Hardback: $32.00
My Passion for Design
Streisand, Barbra
Hardback: $80.00

Rate this title:

Select your rating below then click 'submit'.






I do not wish to rate this title.