Thomas Paine wrote influential pamphlets like "Common Sense" that helped start the American Revolution by stoking resentment against the British Crown, and later wrote "The Age of Reason" criticizing religion while facing imprisonment in France. He emigrated from England to America in 1774 and played a key role in the American Revolutionary movement through his writings that challenged the status quo and established him as the "Father of the American Revolution", though he was later discredited by many for his controversial views.
