“It is not a charity but a right, not bounty but justice, that I am pleading for. The present state of civilization is as odious as it is unjust. It is absolutely the opposite of what it should be, and it is necessary that a revolution should be made in it. The contrast of affluence and wretchedness continually meeting and offending the eye, is like dead and living bodies chained together”
Quote by Thomas Paine
Work
This collection brings together the essential writings of Thomas Paine, a pivotal figure of the Enlightenment and the American and French Revolutions. It includes his most famous political pamphlets—Common Sense, which argued for American independence; The Rights of Man, a defense of the French Revolution and republican government; and The Age of Reason, a critique of organized religion and a call for deism. Also featured are The American Crisis, a series of inspirational pamphlets written during the Revolutionary War; The Constitution of 1795, his thoughts on French governance; the Declaration of Rights; Agrarian Justice, a proposal for social welfare; The Republican Proclamation; an Anti-Monarchal Essay; and personal letters to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. The volume is supplemented by a biography of Paine, providing context for his life and legacy as a radical thinker and activist. more
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