Visit the website ofmindfully.org to see text of Common Sense.

Thomas Paine was a man who did extraordinary things for our country, such as writing Common Sense. It was written in a way that was easy for people to read and understand. It contained ways to be a free American.

Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737, in Norfolk, England. He was born into a Quaker family, but did not grow up to be Quaker. As a child, his father worked as a corset maker, but failed to make enough money to support Paine through grammar school. Paine's father just stopped sending him to grammar school but did not tell Paine the reason for doing so.

Thomas Paine went to work as an apprentice for his father at the young age of twelve, but failed. At age nineteen, he went to sea, but became disinterested, and found himself working as a tax officer. He later wrote The Case of Officers of Excersize. It was about the work as a tax officer.

Thomas Paine wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls," in his second pamphlet, The Crisis, written for the new colonies. Some of his other pamphlets included Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason.

Thomas Paine did not ask for or keep the money that he earned from his pamphlets. Instead, it went to the Revolutionary cause. After the French officials found out what he was writing, he was arrested and held captive for nearly a year. He had no help getting out because the government officials claimed he wasn't a legal American citizen.

In 1809, Thomas Paine died and was buried in the colonies. Ten years later, an English radical took Paine's coffin with the intention of reburying it in England, but was denied permission to bury it. Paine's coffin somehow disappeared.

In 1957, Lee Hays wrote a song using the words of Thomas Paine. The words were from the pamphlet Common Sense. A great poet, Walt Whitman, encouraged poets to write about great events of American history. Here are the original words to the song called "Wasn't That a Time?":

Our fathers bled at Valley Forge,

The snow was red with blood,

Their faith was warm at Valley Forge

Their faith was brotherhood.

Wasn't that a time, Wasn't that a time,

A time to try the soul of man,

Wasn't that a terrible time!

Image coutesy of ArtToday.