Paine, Thomas
Paine, Thomas (1737–1809)The pre-eminent pamphleteer and radical democrat of the American Revolution. Paine was born in England and came to America in 1744. His 1776 revolutionary pamphlet Common Sense was enormously popular. In the spirit of Locke, Paine proclaimed that ‘Government even in its best state is a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.’ Paine wrote many pamphlets during the war, becoming an articulate spokesman for democratic and egalitarian institutions in the new nation. In 1791–2 he published The Rights of Man, defending the doctrine of natural rights against Burke. Briefly imprisoned in Paris during the period of Revolutionary Terror, Paine returned to the United States in 1802.
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