http://www.njreadforlife.org/painetext3.htmlhttp://www.njreadforlife.org/painetext3.html
THOMAS PAINE CAME TO PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA AMERICA SHORTLY AFTER MEETING BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN ENGLAND. THOMAS PAINE'S "COMMON SENSE" WAS AMERICA'S FIRST BEST-SELLER. PAINE ALSO WROTE THE ORIGINAL (NOT LATER AMENDED) "DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE", WHICH GREATLY CONDEMNED AFRICAN AND INDIAN SLAVERY. I STRONGLY SUSPECT PAINE'S AUTHORSHIP BASED ON HIS ANTI-SLAVERY SENSIBILITIES, PHRASES N HIS RELATED WRITINGS. THE 1776 "DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE" FOUNDING DOCUMENT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY THOMAS JEFFERSON, A LARGE-SCALE ,WEALTHY, SLAVEHOLDER, WHO HAD WRITTEN DISPARAGINGLY OF BLACKS' INTELLECTS IN HIS ACCLAIMED "NOTES OF VIRGINIA" (1785), "QUERY XIV.".
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