Why was radical writer Thomas Paine significant?

Very few people had the right to vote in the late eighteenth century. Politics and the running of the government was limited to a small number of wealthy people and certain people later called radicals, questioned if this was the best way of government.

The most important radical writer at this time was Thomas Paine (1737-1809). Paine was born in Thetford in Norfolk and later moved to America where he played an influential role in drafting the Declaration of Independence. He later travelled to France and became involved in the French Revolution, working with the leaders to produce the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man’. Paine wrote a book called ‘The Rights of Man’ which said that everybody should have the right to be involved in government. His book sold half a million copies and was read by many more. It was frequently used as the discussion topic for political groups called corresponding societies.

Thomas Paine supported the development of corresponding societies, which grew up across the country in the 1790s in Derby, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow London, Perth, Norwich, Nottingham and Sheffield. The societies aimed to gain public support for parliamentary reform including annual parliaments and universal suffrage.

Using the original documents in this lesson, find out how Thomas Paine and other radicals demanded change in how the country was to be governed. How did the government respond?