The Rights of Man

An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot…it will march on the horizon of the world, and it will conquer. Thomas Paine was one of the earliest international revolutionaries. His Rights of Man was the most renowned defence of the French Revolution, and it served as a worldwide rallying cry for revolution. He was prohibited in Britain, nearly spared execution in France, and was condemned as an atheist and a Jacobin upon his return to America, for his beliefs. Paine believed that government should be run by and for the people, and that it should be limited to safeguarding their natural rights. He created one of the earliest welfare state plans, combining a liberal civil rights system with egalitarian restrictions.