Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (February 9, 1737 - June 8, 1809) was an writer and revolutionary who is widely known for having helped to inspire the American Revolution. He never had any children. Paine was born to Quaker and Angelican parents in the town of Thetford in Great Britain. He attended school as a child, even though it was not required at the time. At 13, he started working, and was employed in many different jobs.
Although he was born in Great Britain, he later settled in the American colonies in 1774, at age 34. Common Sense was one of his major contributions to the American Revolution and was extremely influential to the point that it was considered vital to the movement.
After playing his role in the American Revolution, Paine started to spend most of his time in France. He had many enemies in France and was arrested at one point, in December 1793, but was released a few months later. Many of the pamphlets that he wrote at this point in his life were highly controversial and sparked a lot of ostracism. He returned to America in 1802, and died there at the age of 71. Due to the controversy that surrounded his works, only six people attended his funeral.