more photos (8)

Thomas Paine’s Followers (1,575)

Add New
Videos

Common Sense Audiobook by Thomas Paine (February 4, 1776)

Add a comment

Thomas Paine

Born

in Thetford, Norfolk, England

February 09, 1737

Died

June 08, 1809

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine

Genre

Politics, Religion, Philosophy

Influences

Voltaire, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau ...more

edit data

Thomas Paine was an English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corset maker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination".

Born in Thetford, England, in the county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), Thomas Paine was an English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corset maker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination".

Born in Thetford, England, in the county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), the all-time best-selling American book that advocated colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–83), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. Common Sense was so influential that John Adams said, "Without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain."

Paine lived in France for most of the 1790s, becoming deeply involved in the French Revolution. He wrote the Rights of Man (1791), in part a defence of the French Revolution against its critics. His attacks on British writer Edmund Burke led to a trial and conviction in absentia in 1792 for the crime of seditious libel. In 1792, despite not being able to speak French, he was elected to the French National Convention. The Girondists regarded him as an ally. Consequently, the Montagnards, especially Robespierre, regarded him as an enemy.

In December 1793, he was arrested and imprisoned in Paris, then released in 1794. He became notorious because of his pamphlet The Age of Reason (1793–94), in which he advocated deism, promoted reason and freethinking, and argued against institutionalized religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular. He also wrote the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1795), discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income. In 1802, he returned to America where he died on June 8, 1809. Only six people attended his funeral as he had been ostracized for his ridicule of Christianity. ...more

Combine Editions
Thomas Paine’s books

Average rating: 4.03 · 87,934 ratings · 3,812 reviews · 1,149 distinct works • Similar authors

	Common Sense really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 36,731 ratings — published 1776 — 2505 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings by Thomas Paine, Jack Fruchtman Jr., Sidney Hook (Introduction) 4.14 avg rating — 15,654 ratings — published 1776 — 30 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Common Sense and Other Writings 3.92 avg rating — 11,199 ratings — published 1776 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rights of Man 4.02 avg rating — 10,226 ratings — published 1791 — 850 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Age of Reason 4.12 avg rating — 9,008 ratings — published 1794 — 1266 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Collected Writings: Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters by Thomas Paine, Eric Foner (Editor) 4.26 avg rating — 1,709 ratings — published 1925 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Crisis 4.02 avg rating — 762 ratings — published 1776 — 871 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rights of Man, Common Sense and Other Political Writings by Thomas Paine, Mark Philp (Editor) 4.01 avg rating — 490 ratings — published 1776 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rights of Man and Common Sense by Thomas Paine, Michael Foot (Introduction) 4.12 avg rating — 181 ratings — published 1989 — 35 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thomas Paine Complete Works – World’s Best Ultimate Collection – All Works: Common Sense, Age Of Reason, Crisis, Rights Of Man, Agragian Justice, Short Writings Plus Biography & Bonuses [Annotated] 4.26 avg rating — 168 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Thomas Paine…

Quotes by Thomas Paine (?)

“The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.”
― Thomas Paine, A Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal on the Affairs of North America

tags: education, experience, wisdom

3181 likes

“These are the times that try men's souls.”
― Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

tags: adversity, american-revolution, trials

1611 likes

“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”
― Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

tags: close-mindedness, simile, stubbornness

903 likes

See all Thomas Paine's quotes »

Polls

February 2019 Short Story Poll

Common Sense by Thomas Paine, 64 pages, 1776

84 votes, 28.4%

Chess Story by Stefan Zweig, 104 pages, 1941

79 votes, 26.7%

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville, 64 pages, 1853

57 votes, 19.3%

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott, 96 pages, 1884

52 votes, 17.6%

Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo, 128 pages, 1955

24 votes, 8.1%

296 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The History Book ...: 2. A. LINCOLN ~ CHAPTERS 4 - 6 (43 - 98) (11/08/09 - 11/14/09) ~ No spoilers, please	66	68	Dec 12, 2009 02:07PM
History is Not Bo...: Historical Event Game	2205	814	Apr 02, 2010 03:01PM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks	2725	2499	May 31, 2010 09:00PM
The History Book ...: 3. THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ~ CHAPTER 3 (85 - 107) (05/24/10 - 05/30/10) ~ No spoilers, please	41	34	Jun 01, 2010 10:02PM
The History Book ...: 9. THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ~ CHAPTER 9 (230 - 252) (07/06/10 - 07/12/10) ~ No spoilers, please	12	30	Jul 09, 2010 05:29AM
History of the Ea...: What do you recommend that we read for our group?	13	32	Nov 09, 2010 08:57PM
100+ Books in 2024: Jennifer D's 2010 List	51	161	Dec 18, 2010 12:08AM
100+ Books in 2024: Scott (Phydux's) 100 in 2010	82	68	Dec 30, 2010 07:11AM

More…