1737-1809. English left-wing political
writer, active in the American and French
revolutions. His widely-read pamphlets
include Common Sense 1776, The Rights of Man
1791, and The Age of Reason 1793. He
advocated republicanism, deism, the abolition
of slavery, and the emancipation of women.
Paine, born in Thetford, Norfolk, was a
friend of Benjamin Franklin and went to
America 1774, where he published several
republican pamphlets and fought for the
colonists in the War of Independence. In 1787
he returned to Britain. The Rights of Man is
an answer to the conservative theorist
Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in
France. In 1792, Paine was indicted for
treason and escaped to France, to represent
Calais in the National Convention. Narrowly
escaping the guillotine, he regained his seat
after the fall of Robespierre. Paine returned
to the USA 1802, and died in New York.