There is a fine line between betrayal and revolution, however when the two arise it is very likely that the individual accused of either could switch between one or the other. 'more in the blink of an eye. In the late 1700s America was going through some of the most difficult times in its history. The fight with Great Britain was getting tougher and those in the colonies were not sure what direction they wanted the colonies to take. Thomas Paine, however, knew exactly what direction he thought the colonies should go and that was to break away from Great Britain and become a nation independent of Great Britain altogether. There was a crisis in America with no established rules or regulations to guide those living within its borders, and Paine realized that something needed to be accomplished to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. Deifying the king of England was considered treason, but arming the American colonist with the knowledge that independence was the only way true freedom would ultimately be achieved was an opportunity Paine was willing to seize. Freedom and independence would come with a price, but the result would be the beginning of a new nation. Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England, to a Quaker family in 1737. It is very likely that his own family also endured some of the same pressures and persecution, which had driven many settlers to the Americas many years earlier. Paine was apprenticed to his father's tailoring shop there in England. Paine continued in this business for a few years, but eventually made his way as a tax handler for the British government. Paine didn't move to America until 1774, so during this time he would have read and listened to... half the paper... here there may have been a secondary plan all along for Jefferson to have someone else draft it so that, in case of a complete spill or something disastrous, someone else would suffer the fall. One cannot be certain, but it should be considered due in part to the language used throughout the documents, which lends itself to Paine's writing style. The story obviously doesn't delve into this and there is no comprehensive evidence of this. However, it is very clear that in the eyes of every American today, the forty-six pages written by Thomas Paine were not words of betrayal or rebellion, but words of independence and freedom. Works Cited Michael Mereanze, Laboratories of Virtue: Punishment, Revolution and Authority 46 pages, Scott Liell Common Sense, Thomas Paine Jack Fruchtman, Jr Thomas Pain: Apostle of Freedom