Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was born in 1737 in Norfolk. His father was a Quaker. He went through a series of professions, from a seaman to a teacher, before landing on a excise officer in East Sussex. Paine had two wives and no children, and was never very happy in marriage. He served on the town council, and found more success in debating in taverns then as a store owner. He wrote a pamphlet called The Case of the Officers of Excise and spent time campaigning for excise officers rather then working in his own shop. This led him to the meeting of Benjamin Franklin, who helped him then move to America.

In America, Thomas started working as a journalist. He wrote for the newspaper in Philadelphia and soon after published Common Sense. This made him well known as a revolutionary propagandist and he thought of himself as a strong supporter of American independence. He severely enforced the declaration of independence and strongly criticized the British constitution. Though he was a very controversial person in the new America, this did not help his financial situation. He was so broke that he had to ask for help from the government and his friends.

After the Revolutionary war was one, Paine inevitably became bored and went back to Europe. Note that this was not before he attempted to make a candle that produced no smoke. In Europe, he spent his time in both Britain and France while trying to compile funds for a bridge made of iron, which was another idea he had in America. Since this was not very successful he became a revolutionary again. Paine was so against the views of Edmund Burke, a man who resisted the French Revolution, that he started to write Rights of Men, which expressed his views on the fact that all men should have equal rights. His writing was so outlandish that he was subsequently outlawed in Britain.

After a few years, Thomas became a French citizen and went into the government. For some very complicated reason, the more powerful part of society did not agree with his radicalism, and he was thrown into jail. He was only released when James Monroe secured his release. In prison, Thomas wrote his third piece entitled The Age of Reason, which completely smashed Christianity.

After he was no longer welcome in Paris, Thomas went back to America with a warm welcome from Thomas Jefferson. In his last few years, he became very sick, very poor, and very drunk.