One of the great classics on democracy, Rights of Man was published in England in 1791 as a vindication of the French Revolution and a critique of the British system of government. In direct, forceful prose, Paine defends popular rights, national independence, revolutionary war, and economic growth-all considered dangerous and even seditious issues. In his introduction Eric Foner presents an overview of Paine's career as political theorist and pamphleteer, and supplies essential background material to Rights of Man. He discusses how Paine created a language of modern politics that brought important issues to the common man and the working classes and assesses the debt owed to Paine by the American and British radical traditions.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Thomas Paine was born in1737 at Thetford, Norfolk in England, as a son of a Quaker. He immigrated to America in 1774. There he published works criticising the slavery and supporting American independence. He became very popular but returned to England where he became involved in the French Revolution. After that he returned to America where he died in 1802.
Introduction by Eric Foner
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Text
RIGHTS OF MAN
Notes to Part One
Notes to Part Two
One of the great classics on democracy, Rights of Man was published in England in 1791 as a vindication of the French Revolution and a critique of the British system of government. In direct, forceful prose, Paine defends popular rights, national independence, revolutionary war, and economic growth-all considered dangerous and even seditious issues. In his introduction Eric Foner presents an overview of Paine's career as political theorist and pamphleteer, and supplies essential background material to Rights of Man. He discusses how Paine created a language of modern politics that brought important issues to the common man and the working classes and assesses the debt owed to Paine by the American and British radical traditions.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Thomas Paine was born in1737 at Thetford, Norfolk in England, as a son of a Quaker. He immigrated to America in 1774. There he published works criticising the slavery and supporting American independence. He became very popular but returned to England where he became involved in the French Revolution. After that he returned to America where he died in 1802.
Introduction by Eric Foner
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Text
RIGHTS OF MAN
Notes to Part One
Notes to Part Two
Introduction by Eric Foner
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Text
RIGHTS OF MAN
Notes to Part One
Notes to Part Two
Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England, in 1737, the son of a
staymaker. He had little schooling and worked at a number of jobs,
including tax collector, a position he lost for agitating for an
increase in excisemen's pay. Persuaded by Benjamin Franklin, he
emigrated to America in 1774. In 1776 he began his American Crisis
series of thirteen pamphlets, and also published the incalculably
influential Common Sense, which established Paine not only as a
truly revolutionary thinker, but as the American Revolution's
fiercest political theorist. In 1787 Paine returned to Europe,
where he became involved in revolutionary politics. In England his
books were burned by the public hangman. Escaping to France, Paine
took part in drafting the French constitution and voted against the
king's execution. He was imprisoned for a year and narrowly missed
execution himself. In 1802 he returned to America and lived in New
York State, poor, ill and largely despised for his extremism and
so-called atheism (he was in fact a deist). Thomas Paine died in
1809. His body was exhumed by William Cobbett, and the remains were
taken to England for a memorial burial. Unfortunately, the remains
were subsequently lost.
Eric Foner is the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia
University. A winner of the Great Teacher Award from the Society of
Columbia Graduates, Foner is an elected member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the British Academy. He has
served terms as President of both the American Historical
Association and the Organization of American Historians.
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