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The Pamphlet That Sparked a Revolution

Research & Learn

Two hundred fifty years after "Common Sense," Thomas Paine’s life reminds us that free speech and free thought are the lifeblood of a free society.

Thomas Paine
Collage showing the eyes of founding father Thomas Paine next to the words "Figures of Speech"

WATCH VIDEO: In this episode of Figures of Speech, we explore how Paine’s writing helped ignite the American Revolution, why "Common Sense" spread so quickly, and how one voice helped change the direction of an entire nation.

Thomas Paine: American history’s winter soldier

Press Freedom

Without Thomas Paine, there may not be a United States of America. At a time when independence still felt uncertain for many colonists, Paine’s words started shifting how people saw both King George III and the British Parliament — but also what was possible for them. Not as British subjects, but as Americans.

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