Thomas Paine was one of the most influential writers and thinkers during the time of the American Revolution. Paine was born January 29, 1737 at Thetford, Norfolk in England, as the son of a Quaker. He had a short basic education and started to work as an officer of the excise. He was twice dismissed from his post, and in 1774 he met Benjamin Franklin in London, who advised him to immigrate to America. Paine landed at Philadelphia …showed first 75 words of 593 total…

…showed last 75 words of 593 total…assured people in the colonies that they had good reason to want to separate from England and that they should. Paine's writing even had some influence on the Declaration of Independence, and without Thomas Paine's Common Sense, the colonists might not have backed the radical groups such as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. Even though he was British, Thomas Paine showed that loyalty to England did not necessarily mean that England was always right.