# The Rights of Man — Character guide

> Key figures in The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.

- [Edmund Burke](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/edmund_burke.md): British statesman and author attacked by Paine for his critique of the French Revolution.
- [Thomas Paine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/thomas_paine.md): Author of The Rights of Man, defending the French Revolution against Burke.
- [William Pitt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/william_pitt.md): British Prime Minister criticized by Paine for his policies.
- [Marquis de La Fayette](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/marquis_de_la_fayette.md): French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolution.
- [Charles Calonne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/charles_calonne.md): French finance minister under Louis XVI, blamed for financial crisis.
- [George Washington](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/george_washington.md): American general and first president, praised by Paine.
- [William the Conqueror](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/william_the_conqueror.md): Norman king of England, cited as an example of conquest-based rule.
- [Jacques Necker](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/jacques_necker.md): French finance minister dismissed by Louis XVI, sparking revolution.
- [Wat Tyler](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/wat_tyler.md): Leader of the Peasants' Revolt in England, mentioned as a rebel.
- [Count de Broglie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/count_de_broglie.md): French military commander during the early Revolution.
- [Benjamin Franklin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/benjamin_franklin.md): American inventor and diplomat, admired by Paine.
- [Charles James Fox](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/charles_james_fox.md): British Whig politician who supported the French Revolution.
- [George Chalmers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/george_chalmers.md): British writer and critic of Paine, author of a hostile biography.
- [Samuel Johnson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/samuel_johnson.md): English writer and lexicographer, quoted by Burke.
- [Count Vergennes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/count_vergennes.md): French foreign minister under Louis XVI, involved in American aid.
- [Rev. William Knowle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/rev_william_knowle.md): English clergyman and writer, cited by Paine.
- [Count d'Artois](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/count_d_artois.md): French prince, later King Charles X, opposed the Revolution.
- [George I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/george_i.md): First Hanoverian king of England, cited in debates on succession.
- [Montesquieu](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/montesquieu.md): French philosopher whose ideas on government influenced Paine.
- [Voltaire](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/voltaire.md): French Enlightenment writer, praised for his defense of liberty.
- [Abbé Sieyès](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/abbe_sieyes.md): French revolutionary clergyman and author of political pamphlets.
- [Thomas Rickman](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/thomas_rickman.md): Friend and publisher of Paine, mentioned in endnotes.
- [Louis XVI](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/louis_xvi.md): King of France during the Revolution, executed in 1793.
- [James II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/james_ii.md): Deposed Stuart king of England, cited in debates on monarchy.
- [Charles I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/charles_i.md): Executed Stuart king of England, referenced in historical arguments.
- [John Sinclair](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/john_sinclair.md): British agriculturalist and politician, cited by Paine.
- [Nathanael Greene](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/nathanael_greene.md): American general in the Revolutionary War, praised by Paine.
- [John Horne Tooke](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/john_horne_tooke.md): English radical politician and friend of Paine.
- [Lord George Gordon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/lord_george_gordon.md): British politician and anti-Catholic riot instigator.
- [King John](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/king_john.md): English king who signed Magna Carta, cited in constitutional debates.
- [Richard Price](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/richard_price.md): Welsh moral philosopher and supporter of the French Revolution.
- [Joseph Foulon](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/joseph_foulon.md): French official lynched by a Parisian mob in 1789.
- [Jean Sylvain Bailly](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/jean_sylvain_bailly.md): First mayor of Paris during the French Revolution.
- [William of Normandy](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/william_of_normandy.md): Norman conqueror of England, cited in historical arguments.
- [Henry Laurens](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/henry_laurens.md): American statesman and diplomat, mentioned in passing.
- [Richard II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters/richard_ii.md): English king deposed by Henry IV, cited in historical examples.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_rights_of_man_se/characters