Thomas Paine is a famous man in history. Thomas was born in Thetford,England in 1737 and died in 1809. He had a sour-mouth mother and a father that worked late. His father gathered enough money to get Thomas to school. He went to Thetford Grammar School.

Thomas wrote a book called Common Sense. This is what he was famous for. He wrote it in 1775. He wrote the book during the America Revolutionary War. He wanted people to believe that America could win the war and to fight for freedom.

It was dangerous to write the book because it was encouraging Americans to fight against the British. After he had it written,he had a hard time finding people to make it a book,so people could read it. People would not make the book because they thought they would get in trouble by the British.

Thomas Paine became a soldier because he wanted to join the war. He continued to write pamphlets about freedom. One pamphlet was called the "United States of America". This was the beginning of are countries name. Then he began working for the government and continued to write. He became an inventor in 1785. On June 8,1809 at eight o'clock he died in his sleep.