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Paine believed in many things. He advocated deism, or belief in the existence of a supreme being, promoted the to be first amendment (Freedom of speech/thought/press), and argued against institutionalized religion.

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Common Sense was the pamphlet that sort of got Paine into history instead of being a nobody. The pamphlet itself was separated into 2 main points. 1. Independence from England and 2. Creation of a democratic republic.

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Thomas Paine shaped America in many ways. First off, he helped give the spark of revolution and rebellions from his Common Sense paper. Also, since he was very critical when judging other people's views, he shaped not only America but also France, England, and history itself.

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After escaping execution, he was invited to the US by the Thomas Jefferson. Unfortunately for him, his contributions to the revolution were eradicated due to his religious beliefs. Ridiculed at by the public and shunned by his friends, he sadly died on June 8, 1809 in New York City at 72 years old.

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He was dismissed from the excise office after he published a strong argument in 1772 for a raise in pay as the only way to end corruption in the service. As the situation turned dire, he met Benjamin Franklin in London who advised him to emigrate to America. Paine arrived at the peak of conflict between colonists and England. After the first shots were fired in the battle of Lexington and Concord, he argued that this wasn't just a revolt because of taxation without representation but a call for independence. This idea went into his famous pamphlet Common Sense, which came off the press on January 10, 1776. The 50-page pamphlet sold more than 500,000 copies within a few months.
In the years later when the war had already broken out and taken hundreds of thousands of souls, he produced The American Crisis, which was used to inspire the members of the army.

In 1791-92, he created The Rights of Man in response to criticism of the French Revolution. This writing caused Paine to be categorized as an outlaw in England for his anti-monarchist views. With him being labeled as an outlaw in his home country, he fled to France to join the national convention. However, in 1793, he was imprisoned in France for not supporting the execution of Louis XVI. While he was incarcerated, he published The Age of Reason, a text opposing the church. Luckily for him, he narrowly escaped execution thanks to James Monroe, the US Minister to France.

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His formal education was meager, just enough to enable him to master reading, writing, and arithmetic. When he was 13, he began work as a corset maker with his father. He then tried a variety of other professions eventually becoming a officer of the excise or a tax officer.

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Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737, in a market town called Thetford. He is most known for writing the Pamphlet "Common Sense" and "The American Crisis".