American politician, jurist, member of the Continental Congress (1774–78), and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Paine graduated from Harvard in 1749 and, after trying teaching and the ministry, turned to the study of law and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1757. An early champion of the patriot cause, he gained recognition throughout the colonies in 1770 when he was chosen as a prosecuting attorney in the murder trial of British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. His opponent in the case was John Adams (Adams, John). He was elected several times to the Massachusetts legislature in the 1770s and became the state's first attorney general in 1777. He helped draft the state constitution in 1780 and from 1790 to 1804 served as a judge of the state supreme court. Long interested in astronomy, Paine was a founder of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780.