Thomas
Paine didn't do well in school and went from one job to the next in England until
1774 when he met Benjamin Franklin by chance. Franklin helped him emigrate to
Philadelphia where Paine turned to journalism and found something he was really
good at. Throughout his life his writings would inspire great passion from many
and severe criticism from others. His 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, played
a key role in rallying America's support of independence from England. His series
of pamphlets, called The Crisis, inspired and encouraged the patriots during
the Revolutionary War and became one of the most widely read works of his time.
Returning to England he wrote The Rights of Man in defense of the demoratic
principles behind the French Revolution, and found himself an international voice
for political freedom and civil liberties. However his views about the monarchy
caused him to become an outlaw in England. He fled to france, but in 1793 he was
imprisoned for not supporting the executition of Louis XVI. While in prison Paine
wrote his most controversial work, The Age of Reason. Many viewed this
work as anti-religious when in fact it merely expressed the deistic views held
by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and other intellectuals of the time. Nevertheless,
when Paine returned to America in 1802 at the request of Thomas Jefferson, he
found himself criticized by the public and abandoned by his friends because of
his views. Over the last two centuries, Thomas Paine's works have inspired many
great thinkers and doers. In his writings Thomas Paine eloquently painted a grand
vision for humanity - he argued against slavery, proposed an international organization
for peace and called for a government sponsored program for the poor and elderly
not unlike today's social security.
