The political philosophy of Thomas Paine

Analyzes Thomas Paine's radical thought both in the context of his time and as a blueprint for the future development of republican government. An Englishman by birth, an American by choice and necessity, Thomas Paine advocated ideas about rights, equality, democracy, and liberty that were far advanced beyond those of his American compatriots. His seminal works, Common Sense and the Rights of Man, were rallying cries for the American and French Revolutions. A man of contrasts and contradictions, Paine was as much a believer in the power of reason as he was in a benevolent diety. He was at once liberal and conservative, a Quaker who was not a pacifist, and an inherently gifted writer who was convinced he was always right.