Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an English-born radical pamphleteer, revolutionary, and political writer active in America, Britain, and France. His plain style made republican and democratic arguments accessible to broad publics. He supported American independence, defended the French Revolution, attacked hereditary monarchy, and challenged orthodox Christianity through deist critique.
This Paine anthology gathers the pamphlets that made revolutionary argument feel urgent, portable, and democratic. Common Sense, published in January 1776, attacks monarchy, hereditary succession, reconciliation with Britain, and political hesitation.
