Rights of Man

The Rights of Man is a philosophical and political powerhouse of a book and is required reading for anyone interested in how events can inspire thought and how thoughts can influence events. It was written in response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, which was a damning indictment of the French Revolution.

Paine reflects in a series of articles on why a political revolution is both permissible and required when a government or ruling class becomes corrupt, self-interested, and indifferent to the masses. Paine’s key argument is that because human rights have their origins in nature, they cannot be granted or taken away by political charters.

He argues that any government’s sole prerogative is to protect the people and their inalienable rights and not subjugate them. He concludes his defense of the French Revolution with a proposed reformation of the English government, the abolition of aristocratic titles, and a revolutionary tax system. 

Upon publication, Paine’s work was widely circulated and restored faith in the French Revolution. In his native England, Paine was convicted of seditious libel against the Crown but avoided hanging by fleeing to France. Paine’s words would help to initiate the American Revolution and still possess the power to infuse everyone who reads them with a revolutionary spirit.