Tom Paine

The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

1737 Thomas Paine (d. June 8, 1809), Anglo-American philosopher, author of Common Sense and Rights of Man. When he was 37 he met Benjamin Franklin in London, who advised him to emigrate to America, giving him letters of recommendation.

In 1791, while in Britain, Paine came into conflict with the authorities for his radical publications. Prudently, he left for Paris and was prosecuted in absentia by the British Crown for seditious libel. In France, ironically, where Paine was an enthusiastic supporter of the French Revolution, as a member of the National Convention he was imprisoned for opposing the execution of King Louis XVI, which gives Paine the rare distinction of having been prosecuted for being too radical for one country and not radical enough for another ...

Tagged: usa, uk, history, biography, radical, philosophy