Thomas PaineHistory 140 – Devin Koppel

Influence

Thomas Paine was born in 1737 in Thetford, Norfolk, and in 1774 he emigrated to the British American colonies to be a part of the American Revolution

He wrote the Rights of Man – a guide to the ideals of the Enlightenment, but became notorious for his book The Age of Reason – a book advocating free though and rejecting institutionalized religion

He also wrote a pamphlet called Agrarian Justice – a discussion of the origin of property & established the beginnings of a guaranteed minimum income

He is called The Father of the American Revolution because of his pamphlet Common Sense – which worked to arouse resentment of the Crown and it became immensely popular among the colonies

Scandal In 1777, Paine became secretary of the

Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs

Before his arrest and imprisonment in France, Paine wrote the first part of The Age of Reason

The writings revealed his critique on institutionalized religion, which later resulted in his public denouncement

A scandal in Paris led to Paine's expulsion from the Committee of Foreign affairs and his imprisonment, where he protested that he was a citizen of America, an ally of Revolutionary France – but his claim was rejected

He escaped execution even though he was marked to be killed by guillotine

In his later years he was established as “a missionary of world revolution” because of his important aide during the war

Later Years In 1802, Paine left France for the United

States in the early stages of the Second Great Awakening

He returned to a hostile public, the religious were upset over Age of Reason and the Federalists attacked him for the ideals in Common Sense

Upon his return he wrote On the Origins of Freemasonry which was not printed in English until 1810

Pained died at age 72 in 1809

His obituary notice read “He had lived long, did some good and much harm.” - only six people attended his funeral, two of whom were black freedmen