On January 15th, Thomas Paine an Englishman born east of London in Thetford, halfway between Norwich and Cambridge, wrote a 47-page pamphlet called simply, Common Sense.
And just to make sure he didn’t miss anyone, it was …
ADDRESSED TO THE
INHABITANTS
OF
AMERICA.
Although Paine was a friend of Benjamin Franklin, the pamphlet was
Printed, and Sold by R. BELL, in Third-Street.
Robert Bell was a Scottish immigrant to the colonies who took up the business of printing not far from Benjamin Franklin’s own printing house.
Paine proceeded to lay out the reasons that those INHABITANTS tell Britain to jump in the pond! In other words, a man born in England in 1737 had moved to Philadelphia in 1774 and was currently advocating that Great Britain was on the wrong side of history!
The title page of the pamphlet was quite specific and touted that the reader would be regaled …
On the following intereſting
SUBJECTS.
-
- Of the Origin and Deſign of Government in general,
with conciſe Remarks on the Engliſh Conſtitution.
-
- Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succeſſion.
-
- Thoughts on the preſent State of American Affairs
-
- Of the preſent Ability of America, with ſome mis-cellaneous Reflections.
And no, Thomas Paine wasn’t an idiot. And, there was nothing wrong with R. Bell’s print type.
And, those were not the letter F!
They are actually the small letter, “s”. It’s a long story, and the founding fathers and printers across the world were not stupid. Even Reader’s Digest jumped into the fray in this century, trying to explain what happened.
https://www.rd.com/article/long-s-us-constitution/
So why does Paine have anything to do with Benjamin Franklin?
It was 1758. Paine was in London and so was Franklin. They attended the same science lectures as men of science would do in the 1750’s. Paine left after six months, and they wouldn’t meet up again until 1773. During that time, Paine left Thetford and dived into political activism and evidently joined some debate clubs.
When he met up with Franklin again in London in ’73 Ben was not yet thinking about leaving the city. But, that didn’t mean Paine wasn’t ready to hitch a ride across the pond, specifically to Philadelphia. And as a gesture of friendship, Thomas was awarded a “letter of recommendation” a, “to whom it might concern” over in the colonies. The following year he arrived in Philadelphia and found work with Franklin’s recommendation as the catalyst.
Whether there was any connection or not is speculation, but Paine put together his pamphlet during the same time Franklin was being drummed out of London for some fabricated charges by the Parliament.
Paine went on to write THE CRISIS.
In this series of pamphlets, he echoed those famous words: These are the times that try men’s souls.
A prophecy? An omen? Was Thomas Paine himself, a time traveler? Unfortunately, historians are quick to note that history does in fact repeat itself. As we plunge into 2026, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, maybe we all need some COMMON SENSE!
The Thomas Paine Historical Association
Ben Franklin had a crisis himself! He needed all of the common sense he could muster! Because it was no longer 1775! A time anomaly had sent him to the present day and he had a problem. Because in this alternate timeline, present day Williamsburg, Virginia, everyone knew …
The British Won The American Revolution!
