evidence: Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain;[1] February 9, 1737 [O.S. January 29, 1736][Note 1] – June 8, 1809) was an English-born American Founding Father, French Revolutionary, inventor, and political philosopher.[2][3] He authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), two of the most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and he helped to inspire the colonial era patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain.[4] His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era ideals of human rights.[5] [...] - ^ Kates, Gary (1989). "From liberalism to radicalism: Tom Paine's Rights of Man". Journal of the History of Ideas. 50 (4): 569–587. doi:10.2307/2709798. JSTOR 2709798. [...] - Fitzsimons, David (2008). "Paine, Thomas (1737–1809)". In Hamowy, Ronald (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, Cato Institute. pp. 369–370. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n226. ISBN 978-1412965804. LCCN 2008009151. OCLC 750831024. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.