Thomas Paine Thomas Paine came as a English man who didn't have much of anything, not many friends, not much money, but with the help of others wishing to keep him alive and give him a chance at a new life. Thomas Paine grew from a sick, unshaven, almost penniless, dirty man to a clean shaven man who helped band thousands of Englishmen together to fight for Independence. Thomas Paine was born in England on January 29, 1737. Paine travelled to American 1774, He landed, then went to Pennsylvania. When he landed he started teaching two children with the recommendation of Benjamin Franklin. After he got a job as a journalist and essayist and helped a Scotsman na