In November 1774, Norfolk native Thomas Paine arrived in Philadelphia. He came under the recommendation of Benjamin Franklin, and indeed it was Franklin's physician who nursed Paine back to health when he arrived, almost dead from typhoid fever. It was six months before Lexington and Concord. Paine intended for "Common Sense" to be published, as "Plain Truth", in a newspaper, but it instead was published as a pamphlet in January 1776. It soon became the talk of the Thirteen Colonies. - Summary by Mark Leder

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