Editing Thomas Paine (section)

===Funding the Revolution===
Paine accompanied Col. John Laurens to France and is credited with initiating the mission.<ref>Daniel Wheeler's ''Life and Writings of Thomas Paine'' Vol. 1 (1908) pp. 26–27.</ref> It landed in France in March 1781 and returned to America in August with 2.5 million [[French livre|livres]] in silver, as part of a "present" of 6 million and a loan of 10&nbsp;million. The meetings with the French king were most likely conducted in the company and under the influence of [[Benjamin Franklin]]. Upon returning to the United States with this highly welcomed cargo, Paine and probably Col. Laurens, "positively objected" that General Washington should propose that Congress remunerate him for his services, for fear of setting "a bad precedent and an improper mode". Paine made influential acquaintances in Paris and helped organize the [[Bank of North America]] to raise money to supply the army.<ref>Daniel Wheeler, ''Life and Writings of Thomas Paine'' Vol. 1 (1908), p. 314.</ref> In 1785, he was given $3,000 by the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] in recognition of his service to the nation.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Common Sense and Other Writings|author=Paine, Thomas|year=2005|publisher=Barnes & Noble Classics|page=[https://archive.org/details/commonsenseother0000pain/page/ xiii]|isbn=978-0672600043|url=https://archive.org/details/commonsenseother0000pain/page/}}</ref>

[[Henry Laurens]] (father of Col. [[John Laurens]]) had been the ambassador to the [[Netherlands]], but he was captured by the British on his return trip there. When he was later exchanged for the prisoner [[Lord Cornwallis]] in late 1781, Paine proceeded to the Netherlands to continue the loan negotiations. There remains some question as to the relationship of Henry Laurens and Paine to Robert Morris as the Superintendent of Finance and his business associate, Thomas Willing, who became the first president of the Bank of North America in January 1782. They had accused Morris of profiteering in 1779 and Willing had voted against the Declaration of Independence. Although Morris did much to restore his reputation in 1780 and 1781, the credit for obtaining these critical loans to "organize" the Bank of North America for approval by Congress in December 1781 should go to Henry or John Laurens and Paine more than to Morris.<ref name="Paine1824"/>

[[File:Fashion-before-Ease-Gillray.jpeg|thumb|upright=0.75|In ''Fashion before Ease; {{snd}}or,{{snd}} A good Constitution sacrificed for a Fantastick Form'' (1793), [[James Gillray]] caricatured Paine tightening the [[corset]] of [[Britannia]] and protruding from his coat pocket is a measuring tape inscribed "Rights of Man".]]
Paine bought his only house in 1783 on the corner of Farnsworth Avenue and Church Streets in [[Bordentown, New Jersey|Bordentown City]], New Jersey and he lived in it periodically until his death in 1809. This is the only place in the world where Paine purchased real estate.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Revolution Echoes Yet in Bordentown: The Place Patriot Thomas Paine Once Called Home Still Honors Him.|last=Chaplin|first=Philippa J.|date=August 1, 2004|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|via=ProQuest}}</ref> In 1785, Paine was elected a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=thomas+paine&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=December 14, 2020|website=search.amphilsoc.org|archive-date=February 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205115530/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=thomas+paine&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1787, Paine proposed an iron bridge design for crossing the [[Schuylkill River]] at Philadelphia. Having little success in acquiring funding, Paine returned to Paris, France seeking investors or other opportunities to implement his, at the time, novel iron bridge design.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Because Paine had few friends when arriving in France aside from [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]] and Jefferson, he continued to correspond heavily with Benjamin Franklin, a long time friend and mentor. Franklin provided letters of introduction for Paine to use to gain associates and contacts in France.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Paine and Jefferson in the Age of Revolutions|last=Ziesche|first=Philipp|publisher=University of Virginia Press|year=2013|page=124}}{{ISBN?}}</ref>

Later that year, Paine returned to London from Paris. He then released a pamphlet on August 20 called ''Prospects on the Rubicon: or, an investigation into the Causes and Consequences of the Politics to be Agitated at the Meeting of Parliament''. Tensions between England and France were increasing, and this pamphlet urged the British Ministry to reconsider the consequences of war with France. Paine sought to turn the public opinion against the war to create better relations between the countries, avoid the taxes of war upon the citizens, and not engage in a war he believed would ruin both nations.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Man Of Reason: The Life Of Thomas Paine|last=Aldridge|first=Alfred|publisher=J. B. Lippincott & Co.|year=1959|location=Philadelphia|pages=120–121}}</ref>