At the age of thirteen, Thomas Paine began working with his father. Many sources say that Thomas Paine’s father’s job was a corset maker, but most Historians state that it is a lie spread by Paine’s enemies, and instead say that he made stay, thick rope that is used on ships, in Thetford (a shipbuilding town). After that, Paine became an excise officer (tax collector). He hunted down smugglers and collected taxes on liquor and tobacco. It was barely enough, yet Paine still spent money on books and science apparatus. …show more content…
Paine had two short marriages, and was fired from his job of excise officer. Paine had published Case of the Officers of Excise, where he argued for a pay raise, and led to getting himself fired. When things looked hopeless, he soon met Benjamin Franklin. They became friends, and Franklin told Paine to go to America, with letters of recommendation. Paine soon made the move to Philadelphia on November 30th 1774.
When Paine reached Philadelphia, his first regular employment started in January 1775, which was helping to edit The Pennsylvania Magazine. While editing, he published numerous articles and poetry occasionally, either anonymously or with a fictitious name. One of those articles was called “African Slavery in America.” It described his strong disapproval against the African slave trade. He signed it under the Pseudonym “Justice and