Thomas Paine

Engraving of Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was a writer born on January 29, 1737 in Thetford, England, whose works helped to spark the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. He supported the Revolution, although he believed it did not go far enough. He briefly lived in the rebelling colonies before returning to Europe in time to take part in the French Revolution.

His works include:

• Common Sense - published in 1776, which challenged British authority over the colonies and spoke to the common people
• The Crisis - a series of articles published 1776-77 during the American Revolution
• The Rights of Man - published in 1792 in support of the French Revolution
• The Age of Reason - published in three parts (1794, 1795 and 1807), an anti-religious text

Bibliography

• Foner, Eric. Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (1976). ISBN 978-0195174854
• Kaye, Harvey J. Thomas Paine and the Promise of America (2005). excerpt and text search
• Philp, Mark. "Paine, Thomas (1737–1809)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,online edn, May 2007
• Wood, Gordon S. Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different (2006). ISBN 978-0143112082 by a leading conservative historian excerpt and text search

Primary sources

• Paine, Thomas. Common Sense (1776; 1817 edition) 56 pages complete text online
• Paine, Thomas. The American Crisis (1777; 1819 edition) 196 pages complete text online
• Paine, Thomas. Rights of Man, Common Sense and Other Political Writings ed. by Mark Philp - (1995), 510pp online edition