Acton Republican Town Committee

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was a political and religious writer born in Thetford, England, who came to America in 1774. His pamphlet "Common Sense" in 1776 was a major cause of the American decision to declare independence in July 1776. It explained republicanism and the evils of having a king in very clear language. Selling over 100,000 copies and read aloud in taverns and churches, it reached most of the attentive public in all 13 colonies.

Late in 1776 when the war was going poorly for the Patriots, General George Washington ordered that Paine’s inspirational "American Crisis" (1776) be read to his troops before the Battle of Trenton. Paine supported the Revolution, although he believed it did not go far enough. He briefly lived in the rebelling colonies before returning to Europe in time to take part in the French Revolution. His later writings promoted Deism and were highly controversial.