ABSTRACT
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was a radical English political philosopher and social reformer who supported both the American and French Revolutions. Then, between 1791 and 1792, he wrote Rights of Man in two parts. The first part of Rights of Man is a direct response to the Irish statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke, who in 1790 published Reflections on the Revolution in France. In part two of his book Paine puts forward the idea that a republican form of government with an elected head and based on representative democracy is the best system for all nations, regardless of size. He also outlines a series of reforms and social programs that English rulers should enact to improve the lives of the unemployed and poor. It can be argued that without Rights of Man, many ordinary people in many different places would have lived very different lives.
