Thomas Paine, political writer (1737-1809):

This remarkable political philosopher and freethinker influenced the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Paine condemned the practice of slavery in his "African Slavery in America" and published his most famous work, "Common Sense" in 1776 just six months before the issuance of the Declaration of Independence. He also wrote "Rights of Man," "Age of Reason," and "The American Crisis."





Thomas Jefferson, scientist, statesman, and 3rd President of the U.S. (1743-1826):

American revolutionary leader, scientist, skeptic, political philosopher, and third president of the United States. The freethinker Jefferson expressed exponents of the Enlightenment that emphasized human reason, science, and education. He established the University of Virginia and authored the Declaration of Independence, and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom.

Jefferson's personal Letters click here.



Bertrand Russell, scientist and philosopher (1872-1970):

British philosopher, mathematician and Nobel laureate, who emphasised logical thinking instead of superstition. He realized that the Christian religion, as organized in the churches, "has been and still is the principle enemy of moral progress in the world."

Recommended Reading:
Why i am not a christian

Is there a God




Robert Green Ingersoll, agnostic writer and thinker (1833-1899):

Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll (August 11, 1833 – July 21, 1899) was a civil war veteran, American political leader, and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism.

Recommended Reading:

Why i am a Agnostic

God in the Constitution 

Joseph Lewis (11 June 1889  - 1968) was an American Freethinker and atheist who was born in Montgomery, Alabama. At the age of nine he left school to find employment and became mostly self-educated. Lewis developed his ideas from reading, among others, Robert G. Ingersoll and Thomas Paine.

In 1920, Lewis moved to New York where he became the president of Freethinkers of America (a title he would keep for the rest of his life). He later started his own publishing company, the Freethought Press Association, where he published literature about freethought written by himself and others. In the 1930s, Lewis expanded his business with a subsidiary, Eugenics Publishing Company, that published literature for common people written by medical experts about subjects such as contraception.

A bulletin, Freethinkers of America, was started by Lewis in 1937. In the 1940s it was renamed Freethinker and in the 1950s to its final name Age of Reason (named after Thomas Paine's book The Age of Reason). Contributors to the bulletin were, among others.