When Tom Paine, the author of Common Sense, died in June 1809 only a dozen people came to his funeral. This program examines Paine's meteoric rise to celebrity status during the American Revolution and his equally dramatic fall from grace in the decades afterwards. Once lionized as our most relatable and revolutionary founding father, Tom Paine died a pariah, too radical and uncompromising for the cautious new country he had called into being.

Richard Bell is Professor of History at the University of Maryland and author of the book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home which was a finalist for the George Washington Prize and the Harriet Tubman Prize. He has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress and is the recipient of the National Endowment of the Humanities Public Scholar award and the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship. He serves as a Trustee of the Maryland Center for History and Culture and as a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

We would like to thank M&T Bank, AARP Vermont, North Country Credit Union, and Town Meeting TV for their generous support.

Event Info

Feb 13, 2025, 7 PM

Feb 15, 2025, 11 AM

Feb 15, 2025, 6 to 8:30 PM