"Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain."
-John Adams
Critics of Thomas Paine praised him for his efforts in Common Sense and in American Crisis. But most were appalled and disgusted by his Age of Reason. Paine was a logical man who saw only one side of a question. His opposition towards a monarchy, attention getting statements, and deist religious opinions made him a topic of either scrutiny or praise. He wrote in a coarse, violent, and plain way that held the attention of commoners, and of members of the upper class such as George Washington. Paine was a highly influential pamphleteer during the American Revolution with his Common Sense, and American Crisis papers. Washington would have the Crisis read to the soldiers when times were down to inspire and to remind them of what they were fighting for. The Rights of Man helped defend the French Revolution, and it gave him even more recognition throughout Britain and France. But he was scrutinized and hated, to say the least, in his later work called the Age of Reason. The purpose of Age of Reason according to Paine was to “inspire mankind with a more exalted idea of the Supreme Architect of the Universe.” Obviously the public failed to see his point of view since most critics denounced him for his uneducated attacks on religion and the church.