Paine, Thomas
Paine, Thomas ( 1737 – 1809 )British political writer. After emigrating to America in 1774 , he wrote the pamphlet Common Sense ( 1776 ), which called for American independence and laid the ground for the Declaration of Independence. On returning to England in 1787 , he published The Rights of Man ( 1791 ), defending the French Revolution in response to Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France ( 1790 ). His radical views prompted the British government to indict him for treason and he fled to France. There he supported the Revolution but opposed the execution of Louis XVI . He was imprisoned for a year, during which time he wrote The Age of Reason ( 1794 ), an attack on orthodox Christianity....
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