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Primary sourceBook1791-1792

Rights of Man

Thomas Paine · 1791-1792

Paine's 1791 book defending the French Revolution and arguing for natural rights, written in reply to Edmund Burke's attack on the Revolution.

Paine wrote this book, which led to his prosecution in Britain for seditious libel.

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Title page of Rights of Man, reading 'Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution, by Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and Author of the Work Intitled Common Sense. London: Printed for J. S. Jordan, No. 166, Fleet-Street. MDCCXCI.' Handwritten ink marks appear in the upper right corner.
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, title page, 1791.

About this source

What it is

Rights of Man is a book by Thomas Paine, published in two parts in 1791 and 1792 in London. It defends the French Revolution against the attack made by Edmund Burke in his Reflections on the Revolution in France.

Why it matters

Paine argued that rights come from nature, not from governments or charters, and proposed reforms such as ending hereditary titles and taxing wealth progressively. The book sold enormously and was read by reformers and workers across Britain. Its publication led the British government to prosecute Paine for seditious libel, showing how dangerous his ideas seemed to the authorities of the time.

Look closer

  • Why might a book be seen as dangerous enough to prosecute its author?
  • How does Paine's argument about rights differ from Burke's defence of tradition?
  • What does the book's dedication to George Washington suggest about Paine's audience?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Paine, Marquis de Lafayette and Mary Wollstonecraft on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1776 Philadelphia pamphlet Common Sense, addressed to the Inhabitants of America, printed by R. Bell in Third Street. Handwritten annotations include a name in the top corner and Thomas Paine's name near the bottom.Book

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Title page of The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. Text reads: 'The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology. By Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and author of the works entitled Common Sense, and Rights of Man, &c. Paris: Printed by Barrois. London: Sold by D. I. Eaton, at the Cock and Swine, No. 74, Newgate-street. 1794. Price two shillings.'Book

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Declaration of Independence

Continental Congress (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) · 1776

Title page of 'Reflections on the Revolution in France', set in serif capitals. Text reads: on the revolution in France, and on the proceedings in certain societies in London relative to that event, in a letter intended to have been sent to a gentleman in Paris, by the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, London: printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, MDCCXC. Yellowed paper with a faint stamp mark in the middle.Book

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Reflections on the Revolution in France

Edmund Burke · November 1790

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