Editing Thomas Paine (section)

==American Revolution==
[[File:Commonsense.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|''[[Common Sense (pamphlet)|Common Sense]]'', published in 1776]]

===''Common Sense'' (1776)===
{{Main|Common Sense}}
Paine has a claim to the title ''The Father of the American Revolution'',<ref>K. M. Kostyal. ''Funding Fathers: The Fight for Freedom and the Birth of American Liberty'' (2014) ch. 2</ref><ref>David Braff, "Forgotten Founding Father: The Impact of Thomas Paine," in Joyce Chumbley, ed., ''Thomas Paine: In Search of the Common Good'' (2009).</ref> which rests on his pamphlets, especially ''Common Sense,'' which crystallized sentiment for independence in 1776. It was published in [[Philadelphia]] on January 10, 1776, and signed anonymously "by an Englishman". It was an immediate success, with Paine estimating it sold 100,000 copies in three months to the two million residents of the 13 colonies. During the course of the American Revolution, one biographer estimated a total of about 500,000 copies were sold, including unauthorized editions.<ref name=Hitchens>{{Cite book
 | title = Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
 | author = Hitchens, Christopher
 | year = 2008
 | publisher = Grove Press
 | page = 37
 | isbn = 978-0802143839
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia
 | title = Paine, Thomas
 | last = Oliphant
 | first = John
 | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of Military History
 | url-access = subscription
 | via = Gale Virtual Library
 | url = http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3454901190&source=gale&userGroupName=rich30969&version=1.0
 | access-date = April 10, 2007
 | date =
 | archive-date = May 27, 2021
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210527174915/https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=rich30969&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Finfomark.do%3Fsource%3Dgale%26userGroupName%3Drich30969%26prodId%3DGVRL%26tabID%3DT001%26action%3Dinterpret%26docId%3DCX3454901190%26type%3Dretrieve%26contentSet%3DEBKS%26version%3D1.0&prodId=GVRL
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> However, some historians dispute these numbers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Raphael |first=Ray |date=2013-03-20 |title=Thomas Paine's Inflated Numbers |url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/03/thomas-paines-inflated-numbers/ |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=Journal of the American Revolution |language=en-US}}</ref> Paine's original title for the pamphlet was ''Plain Truth'', but Paine's friend, pro-independence advocate [[Benjamin Rush]], suggested ''Common Sense'' instead.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qh4UAwAAQBAJ&q=%22common+sense%22+originally+titled+%22Plain+Truth%22&pg=PA310|title=History of Philadelphia|last=Scharf|first=T.|publisher=Рипол Классик|isbn=978-5883517104|page=310|language=en|access-date=October 29, 2020|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204234959/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qh4UAwAAQBAJ&q=%22common+sense%22+originally+titled+%22Plain+Truth%22&pg=PA310|url-status=live}}</ref> Finding a printer who was daring enough to commit his print shop to the printing of ''Common Sense'' was not easy. At the advice of Rush, Paine commissioned [[Robert Bell (publisher)|Robert Bell]] to print his work.<ref>[[#rush2019|Butterfield (ed.), 2019]], Vol II, p. 1008</ref><ref>[[#conway1892a|Conway & Cobbett, 1892]], Vol I, p. 68</ref>

The pamphlet came into circulation in January 1776,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ferguson|first=Robert A.|date=July 2000|title=The Commonalities of Common Sense|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2674263|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|volume=57|issue=3|pages=465–504|doi=10.2307/2674263|jstor=2674263|access-date=September 21, 2021|archive-date=October 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017194641/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2674263|url-status=live}}</ref> after the Revolution had started. It was passed around and often read aloud in taverns, contributing significantly to spreading the idea of republicanism, bolstering enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the [[Continental Army]]. Paine provided a new and convincing argument for independence by advocating a complete break with history. ''Common Sense'' is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an immediate choice. It offers a solution for Americans disgusted with and alarmed at the threat of tyranny.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Commonalities of Common Sense|author=Robert A. Ferguson|journal= [[William and Mary Quarterly]]|volume=57|issue=3|pages=465–504|date=July 2000|doi=10.2307/2674263|jstor=2674263}}</ref>

Paine's attack on monarchy in ''Common Sense'' was essentially an attack on King [[George III]]. Whereas colonial resentments were originally directed primarily against the king's ministers and Parliament, Paine laid the responsibility firmly at the king's door. ''Common Sense'' was the most widely read pamphlet of the American Revolution. It was a clarion call for unity against the corrupt British court, so as to realize America's providential role in providing an asylum for liberty. Written in a direct and lively style, it denounced the decaying despotisms of Europe and pilloried hereditary monarchy as an absurdity. At a time when many still hoped for reconciliation with Britain, ''Common Sense'' demonstrated to many the inevitability of separation.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Thomas Paine|author=Philp, Mark|author-link=Mark Philp|editor=Edward N. Zalta|editor-link=Edward N. Zalta|encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] (Winter 2013 Edition)|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/paine|date=2013|access-date=January 24, 2015|archive-date=January 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128132034/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/paine/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Paine was not on the whole expressing original ideas in ''Common Sense'', but rather employing rhetoric as a means to arouse resentment of the Crown. To achieve these ends, he pioneered a style of political writing suited to the democratic society he envisioned, with ''Common Sense'' serving as a primary example. Part of Paine's work was to render complex ideas intelligible to average readers of the day, with clear, concise writing unlike the formal, learned style favored by many of Paine's contemporaries.<ref>Merrill Jensen, ''The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763–1776'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), 668.</ref> Scholars have put forward various explanations to account for its success, including the historic moment, Paine's easy-to-understand style, his democratic ethos, and his use of psychology and ideology.<ref>David C. Hoffman, "Paine and Prejudice: Rhetorical Leadership through Perceptual Framing in Common Sense." ''Rhetoric and Public Affairs'', Fall 2006, Vol. 9, Issue 3, pp. 373–410.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>

''Common Sense'' was immensely popular in disseminating to a very wide audience ideas that were already in common use among the elite who comprised Congress and the leadership cadre of the emerging nation, who rarely cited Paine's arguments in their public calls for independence.<ref>Pauline Maier, ''American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence'' (New York: Knopf, 1997), 90–91.</ref> The pamphlet probably had little direct influence on the [[Second Continental Congress|Continental Congress']] decision to issue a [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], since that body was more concerned with how declaring independence would affect the war effort.<ref>Jack N. Rakove, ''The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress'' (New York: Knopf, 1979), 89.</ref> One distinctive idea in ''Common Sense'' is Paine's beliefs regarding the peaceful nature of republics; his views were an early and strong conception of what scholars would come to call the [[democratic peace theory]].<ref>Jack S. Levy, William R. Thompson, ''Causes of War'' (John Wiley & Sons, 2011).</ref>

[[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] vigorously attacked ''Common Sense''; one attack, titled ''Plain Truth'' (1776), by Marylander [[James Chalmers (loyalist)|James Chalmers]], said Paine was a political quack<ref>{{Cite web
 | title = James Chalmers and Plain Truth A Loyalist Answers Thomas Paine
 | last = New
 | first = M. Christopher
 | publisher = Archiving Early America
 | url = http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/fall96/loyalists.html
 | access-date = October 3, 2007
 | archive-date = September 28, 2007
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928003809/http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/fall96/loyalists.html
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> and warned that without monarchy, the government would "degenerate into democracy".<ref name="Jensen669">Jensen, ''Founding of a Nation'', 669.</ref> Even some American revolutionaries objected to ''Common Sense''; late in life [[John Adams]] called it a "crapulous mass". Adams disagreed with the type of radical democracy promoted by Paine (that men who did not own property should still be allowed to vote and hold public office) and published ''[[Thoughts on Government]]'' in 1776 to advocate a more conservative approach to republicanism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/PJA04dg2|title=Adams Papers Digital Edition – Massachusetts Historical Society|website=www.masshist.org|access-date=December 5, 2018|archive-date=December 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205150155/http://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/PJA04dg2|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Sophia Rosenfeld]] argues that Paine was highly innovative in his use of the commonplace notion of "common sense". He synthesized various philosophical and political uses of the term in a way that permanently impacted American political thought. He used two ideas from [[Scottish Common Sense Realism]]: that ordinary people can indeed make sound judgments on major political issues, and that there exists a body of popular wisdom that is readily apparent to anyone. Paine also used a notion of "common sense" favored by [[philosophe]]s in the Continental Enlightenment. They held that common sense could refute the claims of traditional institutions. Thus, Paine used "common sense" as a weapon to de-legitimize the monarchy and overturn prevailing conventional wisdom. Rosenfeld concludes that the phenomenal appeal of his pamphlet resulted from his synthesis of popular and elite elements in the independence movement.<ref>{{cite journal|author1-link=Sophia Rosenfeld|jstor=40212021|title=Tom Paine's Common Sense and Ours|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|volume=65|issue=4|pages=633–668|last1=Rosenfeld|first1=Sophia|year=2008}}</ref>

According to historian [[Robert Middlekauff]], ''Common Sense'' became immensely popular mainly because Paine appealed to widespread convictions. Monarchy, he said, was preposterous and it had a heathenish origin. It was an institution of the devil. Paine pointed to the [[Old Testament]], where almost all kings had seduced the Israelites to worship idols instead of God. Paine also denounced aristocracy, which together with monarchy were "two ancient tyrannies." They violated the laws of nature, human reason, and the "universal order of things," which began with God. That was, Middlekauff says, exactly what most Americans wanted to hear. He calls the Revolutionary generation "the children of the twice-born".<ref>[[Robert Middlekauff]] (2005). ''The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789'', Revised and Expanded Edition, Oxford University Press, New York; {{ISBN|978-0195315882}}, pp. 30–53.</ref> because in their childhood they had experienced the [[Great Awakening]], which, for the first time, had tied Americans together, transcending denominational and ethnic boundaries and giving them a sense of patriotism.<ref>Robert Middlekauff, ''The Glorious Cause'', pp. 4–5, 324–326. {{ISBN|978-0195315882}}</ref><ref>Cf. Clifton E. Olmstead (1960), ''History of Religion in the United States'', Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, p. 178.{{ISBN?}}</ref>

=== Possible involvement in drafting the Declaration of Independence ===
[[File:Roger Sherman Copy of the Declaration of Independence.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|The [[Committee of Five]] working draft of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], dated June 24, 1776, copied from the original draft by [[John Adams]] for [[Roger Sherman]]'s review and approval]]
[[File:Sherman copy inscription referencing Thomas Paine.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Inscription on reverse of Sherman Copy of the Declaration of Independence referencing "T.P." during the drafting process]]While there is no historical record of Paine's involvement in drafting the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], some scholars of Early American History have suspected his involvement. As noted by the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, multiple authors have hypothesized and written on the subject, including Moody (1872), Van der Weyde (1911), Lewis (1947), and more recently, Smith & Rickards (2007).<ref name=":1" />

In 2018, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association introduced an early draft of the Declaration that contained evidence of Paine's involvement based on an inscription of "T.P." on the back of the document. During the early deliberations of the [[Committee of Five]] members chosen by Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence, [[John Adams]] made a hastily written manuscript copy of the original draft of the Declaration of Independence on June 24, 1776, known as the Sherman Copy. Adams made this copy shortly before preparing another neater, fair copy that is held in the Adams Family Papers collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The Sherman copy of the Declaration of Independence is one of several working drafts of the Declaration, made for [[Roger Sherman]]'s review and approval before the Committee of Five submitted a finalized draft to Congress. The Sherman Copy of the Declaration of Independence contains an inscription on the back of the document that states: "A beginning perhaps-Original with Jefferson-Copied from Original with T.P.'s permission." According to the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, the individual referenced as "T.P." in the inscription appears to be Thomas Paine.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Thomas Paine National Historical Association |url=https://thomaspaine.org/pages/resources/sherman-copy-di.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403151531/http://www.thomaspaine.org/aboutpaine/sherman-copy-di.html |archive-date=April 3, 2021 |access-date=2021-03-17 |website=www.thomaspaine.org}}</ref>

The degree to which Paine was involved in formulating the text of the Declaration is unclear, as the original draft referenced in the Sherman Copy inscription is presumed lost or destroyed. However, John Adams' request for permission of "T.P." to copy the original draft may suggest that Paine had a role either assisting Jefferson with organizing ideas within the Declaration, or contributing to the text of the original draft itself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373951532_Uncovering_the_Trail_of_Communication_of_the_Committee_of_Five_Roger_Sherman's_Draft_Copy_of_the_Declaration_of_Independence|title=(PDF) Uncovering the Trail of Communication of the Committee of Five: Roger Sherman's Draft Copy of the Declaration of Independence}}</ref>

===''The American Crisis'' (1776)===
In late 1776, Paine published ''[[The American Crisis]]'' pamphlet series to inspire the Americans in their battles against the British army. He juxtaposed the conflict between the good American devoted to civic virtue and the selfish provincial man.<ref>Martin Roth, "Tom Paine and American Loneliness." ''Early American Literature,'' September 1987, Vol. 22, Issue 2, pp. 175–182.</ref> To inspire his soldiers, General [[George Washington]] had ''The American Crisis'', first ''Crisis'' pamphlet, read aloud to them.<ref>{{Cite web
 | title = Thomas Paine. The American Crisis. Philadelphia, Styner and Cist, 1776–77.
 | publisher = Indiana University
 | url = http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/history/american-crisis.html
 | access-date = November 15, 2007
 | archive-date = October 20, 2019
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191020025835/http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/history/american-crisis.html
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> It begins:

{{blockquote|These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.}}

===Foreign affairs===
In 1777, Paine became secretary of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs. The following year, he alluded to secret negotiation underway with France in his pamphlets. His enemies denounced his indiscretions. There was scandal; together with Paine's conflict with [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] and [[Silas Deane]], it led to Paine's expulsion from the Committee in 1779.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations|last=Nelson|first=Craig|year=2007|publisher=Penguin|pages=174–175|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xRFql6S6jKgC&pg=PT174|isbn=978-1101201787|access-date=July 1, 2015|archive-date=September 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904024401/https://books.google.com/books?id=xRFql6S6jKgC&pg=PT174|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, in 1781, he accompanied [[John Laurens]] on his mission to France. Eventually, after much pleading from Paine, New York State recognized his political services by presenting him with an estate at [[New Rochelle, New York|New Rochelle]], New York and Paine received money from Pennsylvania and from Congress at Washington's suggestion. During the Revolutionary War, Paine served as an aide-de-camp to the important general, [[Nathanael Greene]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Crisis in representation: Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, Helen Maria Williams, and the rewriting of the French Revolution|last=Blakemore|first=Steve|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|year=1997}}</ref>

====Silas Deane Affair====

In what may have been an error, and perhaps even contributed to his resignation as the secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, Paine was openly critical of Silas Deane, an American diplomat who had been appointed in March 1776 by the Congress to travel to France in secret. Deane's goal was to influence the French government to finance the colonists in their fight for independence. Paine largely saw Deane as a war profiteer who had little respect for principle, having been under the employ of Robert Morris, one of the primary financiers of the American Revolution and working with [[Pierre Beaumarchais]], a French royal agent sent to the colonies by King Louis to investigate the Anglo-American conflict. Paine uncovered the financial connection between Morris, who was Superintendent for Finance of the Continental Congress, and Deane.<ref name="Harlow Giles Unger 2019 p. 89">[[Harlow Giles Unger]], "Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence," (New York: Da Capo Press, 2019), p. 89</ref>

Wealthy men, such as Robert Morris, [[John Jay]] and powerful [[merchant bank]]ers, were leaders of the Continental Congress and defended holding public positions while at the same time profiting off their own personal financial dealings with governments.<ref name="Harlow Giles Unger 2019 p. 89"/> Amongst Paine's criticisms, he had written in the ''[[Pennsylvania Packet]]'' that France had "''prefaced [their] alliance by an early and generous friendship''," referring to aid that had been provided to American colonies prior to the recognition of the Franco-American treaties. This was alleged to be effectively an embarrassment to France, which potentially could have jeopardized the alliance. John Jay, the President of the Congress, who had been a fervent supporter of Deane, immediately spoke out against Paine's comments. The controversy eventually became public, and Paine was then denounced as unpatriotic for criticizing an American revolutionary. He was even physically assaulted twice in the street by Deane supporters. This much-added stress took a large toll on Paine, who was generally of a sensitive character and he resigned as secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs in 1779.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Thomas Paine|author=Craig Nelson|pages=[https://archive.org/details/thomaspaineenlig0000nels/page/134 134–138]|isbn=978-0670037889|year=2006|url=https://archive.org/details/thomaspaineenlig0000nels/page/134|publisher=New York : Viking}}</ref> Paine left the Committee without even having enough money to buy food for himself.<ref>Harlow Giles Unger, "Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence," (New York: Da Capo Press, 2019), p. 93</ref>

Much later, when Paine returned from his mission to France, Deane's corruption had become more widely acknowledged. Many, including Robert Morris, apologized to Paine, and Paine's reputation in Philadelphia was restored.<ref>Harlow Giles Unger, "Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence," (New York: Da Capo Press, 2019), pp. 102–103</ref>

==="Public Good"===

In 1780, Paine published a pamphlet entitled "Public Good," in which he made the case that territories west of the 13 colonies that had been part of the British Empire belonged after the Declaration of Independence to the American government, and did not belong to any of the 13 states or to any individual [[land speculation|speculators]]. A [[royal charter]] of 1609 had granted to the [[Virginia Company]] land stretching to the Pacific Ocean. A small group of wealthy Virginia land speculators, including the Washington, Lee, and Randolph families, had taken advantage of this royal charter to survey and to claim title to huge swaths of land, including much land west of the 13 colonies. In "Public Good," Paine argued that these lands belonged to the American government as represented by the Continental Congress. This angered many of Paine's wealthy Virginia friends, including [[Richard Henry Lee]] of the powerful Lee family, who had been Paine's closest ally in Congress, [[George Washington]], [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[James Madison]], all of whom had claims to huge wild tracts that Paine was advocating should be government owned. The view that Paine had advocated eventually prevailed when the [[Northwest Ordinance]] of 1787 was passed.

The animosity Paine felt as a result of the publication of "Public Good" fueled his decision to embark with [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[John Laurens]] on a mission to travel to Paris to obtain funding for the American war effort.<ref>Harlow Giles Unger, "Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence," (New York: Da Capo Press, 2019), pp. 100–101</ref>

===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>