Two hundred fifty years ago this week, a recent immigrant to Britain’s North American colonies put the finishing touches on a manuscript in which he hoped to express “plain truths” about his newly adopted home. A native of Thetford, about 90 miles northeast of London, Thomas Paine had struggled as a laborer, sailor, craftsman, and excise tax collector in England before embarking for Philadelphia in late 1774 with almost nothing to his name. The one thing going for him was an acquaintance named Benjamin Franklin, who had provided a letter of recommendation that led to an offer of employment with a new publication called The Pennsylvania Magazine.
From tight quarters at the corner of Front and Market Streets, across from the London Coffee House and next to the Magazine’s offices, Paine earned his first byline on January 24, 1775. Acting as both an editor and contributor, Paine brought a burst of energy to the fledgling periodical, vaulting it to unanticipated success with one of the highest readerships in the colonies.
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