Wed., July 5, 6 p.m., free, National Archives, 900 Market St., 215-606-0103; Wed., July 12, 6 p.m., free, Atwater Kent Museum, 15 S. Seventh St., 215-685-4830; Wed., July 19, 6 p.m., free, The Friends Center, 1500 Cherry St., www.thomaspaineslegacy.net

"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." --Thomas Paine

"Founding Father" and "extreme badass" generally don't appear in the same sentence, unless connected by the word "weren't." Yet there's no mistaking Thomas Paine's incredible level of badassery.

The only Founding Father who didn't own slaves, Paine was a strong advocate for public education, minimum wage and social security—centuries before these issues would even come up for debate. That's to say nothing of that whole inspiring-the-Declaration-of-Independence thing.

To celebrate the legacy of this most righteous revolutionary, Moonstone Inc. has organized a series of lectures that look at similarly minded progressive movements since 1776, when Paine first published his incendiary Common Sense pamphlet. Each lecture will focus on the events and rabble-rousers that changed Philadelphia and society as a whole for the better.

Which is what July 4 is all about, right?