Paine, Thomas

(1737 -1809) Author, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Born in Thetford, an important market town in Norfolk, England. In 1774, after a turbulent few years working different jobs, he moved to London. Here he met Benjamin Franklin, who suggested he move to British colonial America. Paine arrived in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774. Whilst there, he wrote the hugely influential short pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ which was extremely popular and widely circulated in the United States and strongly advocated the case for American independence from Britain. In the 1780s, Paine returned to Europe to pursue other projects including undertaking work on an iron bridge and a smokeless candle. In 1791-2, he wrote 'The Rights of Man' as a reaction to criticism of the French Revolution, causing Paine to be considered an outlaw in England for voicing his anti-monarchist views. He was imprisoned in France in 1793, for not supporting the execution of Louis XVI.  In 1796 Paine wrote another famous yet controversial piece, his anti- church text 'The Age of Reason'. On June 8, 1809, Thomas Paine died aged 72, in Greenwich Village, New York City, estranged and alienated from his friends.