SECRET BEHIND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

1809 Thomas Paine, guiding light of the American Revolution and on of the most influential thinkers of the age, died in New York City today. Through his writings, Paine inspired and revived the nation's morale during the dark days of America's fight for independence from Britain. His famous pamphlet Common sense, Published in 1776 and including the words, "The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind" sold more than 1,00,000 copies in three months. The American Crisis, published later in the same year, is credited with contributing to America success at the Battle of the Trenton. While in France, Paine wrote the Writes of Man, a defense of the French revolution that earned him the brand "traitor" in his native Britain. Although a supporter of the revolutionary cause, he was oppose to the execution of Louis XVI: this aroused radical suspicions and landed him in the Luxembourg Prison, where the work on the statement of his religious beliefs, The age of Reason, published after his release.