| Timeline |
| 1737 |
Born 29 January in Thetford, England |
| 1749 |
Leaves school at 12, briefly apprentices to his father (a corseter) |
| 1756 |
Goes to sea |
| 1759 |
Marries Mary Lambert on 27 September, she dies within the year |
| 1768 |
Works as a excise (tax) officer in England |
| 1771 |
Marries Elizabeth Ollive on 26 March |
| 1772 |
The Case of the Officers of Excise published |
| 1774 |
Meets Benjamin Franklin, emigrates to England; legally separates from wife Elizabeth |
| 1775 |
African Slavery in America published; co-editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine; helps found one of the first abolitionist societies |
| 1776 |
Common Sense published, Paine donates most of the proceeds to the revolutionary army; begins The Crisis |
| 1777 |
Appointed Secretary of the Committee of Foreign Affairs in Congress |
| 1779 |
Resigns as Secretary of the Committee of Foreign Affairs in Congress; is appointed him clerk of the state assembly |
| 1780 |
Public Good published |
| 1781 |
Travels to France to raise funds for the army |
| 1787 |
Leaves for England |
| 1789 |
Visits France to see new regime - spends next several years travelling back and forth between England and France |
| 1791 |
Begins The Rights of Man |
| 1792 |
Paine convicted of treason and banished from England; elected to the National Convention in France |
| 1793 |
Imprisoned in France for voting against the execution of Louis XVI |
| 1794 |
Released from prison with the help of James Madison; begins The Age of Reason |
| 1795 |
Paine's seat in the Convention is restored; Dissertation on First Principles of Government published |
| 1797 |
Agrarian Justice published |
| 1802 |
Returns to America by invitation of Thomas Jefferson |
| 1809 |
Dies 8 June in New York City |
