Enlightenment

Thomas Paine

1737–1809

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) was born in Thetford, Norfolk, worked as a staymaker and excise officer, and emigrated to Philadelphia in 1774 with a letter from Benjamin Franklin. Common Sense (1776) and the American Crisis papers made him the voice of the Revolution; Rights of Man (1791–92) defended the French Revolution and forced him to flee England; The Age of Reason (1794–95) attacked organised religion. He died in New York, largely ostracised.

Sources: Bibliomancer editorial note, written from standard reference facts (dates, places, principal works).