Benjamin Franklin 


Philadelphia site where the first edition of Paine’s Common Sense was printed.

Philadelphia site where the first edition of Paine’s Common Sense was printed.

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

Learn how Benjamin Franklin encouraged Englishman Thomas Paine to emigrant to the American colonies, where Paine would later author Common Sense, a revolutionary pamphlet advocating American independence from the British Empire.


A sculpture outlining the one-time location of Ben Franklin’s Philadelphia home.

A sculpture outlining the one-time location of Ben Franklin’s Philadelphia home.