Thomas Paine, born Thomas Pain on February 9, 1737, was an English-born American Founding Father, French Revolutionary, political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. His seminal works, Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), were pivotal at the onset of the American Revolution, inspiring Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. Paine's philosophy mirrored Enlightenment-era ideals of human rights.

Paine's journey from Thetford, Norfolk to the heart of the American Revolution was facilitated by Benjamin Franklin. Arriving just in time to partake in the revolutionary fervor, his pamphlet Common Sense catalyzed the call for independence. In England, his publication Rights of Man (1791), partly a defense of the French Revolution against its detractors, led to his conviction in absentia for seditious libel. Fleeing to France, Paine was quickly embroiled in the French Revolution, experiencing both its highs and lows, including imprisonment. Despite his struggles, he continued to write, producing works like The Age of Reason (1793–1794), advocating Deism, reason, and freethought, and challenging institutionalized religion and Christian doctrines.

Paine's later years were marked by his controversial stances, including a scathing critique of George Washington and the introduction of the concept of a guaranteed minimum income in Agrarian Justice (1797). Despite his significant contributions to political thought and the shaping of American and French revolutionary ideals, Paine died ostracized due to his religious views and critiques of leadership, with only six people attending his funeral on June 8, 1809.