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If you printed Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' in 1776, here's what you had to do to avoid jail

If you printed Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense' in 1776, here's what you had to do to avoid jail

Glenn Beck was joined in "The Vault" by WallBuilders' David Barton, Tim Barton, and Matt Hayes to open never before seen Thomas Paine artifacts.

David Barton handed Glenn a hand written Thomas Paine manuscript that ends in a personal letter to Samuel Adams. He described it as a "capstone of 25 years of Thomas Paine in America." He also showed Glenn a letter written by Paine during Thomas Jefferson's administration.

In 1772 Benjamin Franklin, who was like a father to Paine, convinced him to come to America and set him up in a printing business with Robert Aitken, who was the official printer of the Continental Congress.

Paine then produced "Common Sense." When it was printed, the reader had to imagine or write in words like "tyrant" so the printer would not be subjected to treason charges.

Glenn summarized "Common Sense," pointing out that everyone knew what the king was doing was wrong, with Paine imploring people to consider what they were going to do about it.  David Barton noted that it was George Washington that described the pamphlet as "the spark that lit the Revolution."

At the time of its printing, there were three million Americans, 500,000 of which read "Common Sense" which is proportionately 50 times more than a massive best seller today.

To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and watch full episodes of “Glenn” live weekdays 5–6 p.m. ET or anytime on-demand at TheBlaze TV.

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