Thomas Paine, whether he be labeled journalist, propagandist, or editorialist, must be considered one of the great influentials of all time. Not only did he play an enormous role in the American Revolution, but he may have had an even greater impact on the French Revolution. Indeed, his words may have exerted considerable influence in a later crisis of his adopted land. Ever a strong critic of the institution of slavery, he often wrote that it was strange to him that the colonies should fight for freedom from England, yet deny that same precious commodity to the slaves. Abraham Lincoln said he never tired of reading Paine's work, and perhaps the words of the great writer struck home in the heart of the great emancipator.

Thomas Paine was born on 29 January 1737 in the small village of Thetford in Norfolk, England, to Joseph and Frances Cocke Pain (Paine added...