Thomas Paine

George Washington wrote, "I find that Common Sense is working a powerful change there (Virginia) in the minds of many men." The passion of the patriot Thomas Paine comes straight on and one can better understand the forces that shaped this country....  

In 1775 the American colonies were a hotbed of political discord. Many of the British policies, specifically taxes, had caused American colonial leaders to consider the unthinkable....

Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man is unquestionably one of the great classics on the subject of democracy....

Rights of Man presents an impassioned defense of the Enlightenment principles of freedom and equality that Thomas Paine believed would soon sweep the world....

Written in 1791, Thomas Paine's Rights of Man is a seminal work on human freedom and equality. Using the French Revolution and its ideals as an example, he demonstrates his belief that any government must put the inherent rights of its citizens above all else....

Using the French Revolution and its ideals as an example, Paine demonstrates his belief that any government must put the rights of its citizens above all else, especially politics....

Common Sense, a pamphlet by Thomas Paine, was published anonymously in 1776, six months before the Declaration of Independence....

First published anonymously in January 1776, Paine's pamphlet Common Sense became a colonial best seller. In a would-be nation of 4 million, some 150,000 copies were sold. That's the equivalent of selling 12 million copies in today's United States....

Common Sense is the timeless classic that inspired the 13 Colonies to fight for and declare their independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. This pamphlet challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy to rule over the American colonists....

Like the American Revolution, the French Revolution had its dissidents and supporters. Thomas Paine was one such supporter, and Rights of Man was his manifesto in support of people fighting for liberty....