Thomas Paine

On January 29 1737, in Thetford England, Thomas Paine was born he stayed in England until 1774 where he immigrated to Philadelphia. His quotation from the American crisis “these are the times that try men’s souls” it not only described the beginning of revolution of American but also the life of Thomas Paine as a passionate writer and activist. A life full of criticism and passionate writing communicated the ideology of revolution to the very common farmer and this is what created the prose that encouraged the hearts of the fledging America. He was among the very first people to advocate on social security and world peace organization but latter on his religion radical views went on to destroy his previous success. At the time of his death only a spoonful of people attended his final journey. In his journey he was able to influence the life of people across Europe and America. He was best known with his works that included the popular ‘common sense’ that advocated for American independence, the crisis, the rights of man, agrarian justice and the age of reason.

His works

Common sense sold more than 150000 copies in which he strove for simplicity in addressing a crowd that was unfamiliar on legal precedents in which he explains the needed to understand the nature of politics only required the use of common sense. From there on Paine moved on to struggle for independence by writing the crisis papers and in a movement that resulted in the era’s most democratic constitution. On his return to Europe in 1787, his work on the rights of man defended the French revolution against attacks of Edmund Burke. The right of man transformed man as an object of rights with his advocate on retirement benefit, progressive taxation, public employment and demands for political reforms linked. He was later arrested for the opposition of execution of the king where he was released in 1794 and produced pamphlets on the age of reason and agrarian justice.

The age of Reason

This pamphlet was exposition deism and an assault attack on the Christianity’s basic principles, on his return to America in 1802 he was under constant assault by the staunch Christians for his writings. On his death only six mourners went for his funeral, for a man who had inspired the Americans both in thinking in a different perspective and also who went on to talk ill about the religion can only appreciate his age of reason with the age of religion.