Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe (1660?-1731), English journalist and novelist, whose work reflects his diverse experiences in many countries and many walks of life. As well as being a brilliant journalist, novelist and social thinker, Defoe was an exceptional author, producing more than 500 literary pieces. Defoe was born in London around 1660, the son of a candle merchant named Foe. Daniel added "De" to his name around 1700. He was educated for the Presbyterian ministry but decided to go into business in 1685. He became a hosiery merchant and his business gave him frequent opportunities to travel throughout Western Europe. The Roman Catholic King James II, in 1685 Defoe took an active part in the failed rebellion led by the Duke of Monmouth against the king. In 1692 his business failed, but he subsequently gained control of a tile and brick factory. He obtained a government post in 1695 and the same year wrote "An Essay on Projects", a notable writing on matters of public interest, such as the education of women. Particularly notable among his writings in later years was the satirical poem "The True-born Englishman" (1701), an attack on beliefs in racial or national superiority, which was directed particularly towards those Englishmen who resented the new king , William III, because Dutch. The following year Defoe anonymously published a treatise entitled "The Shortest Way with Dissenters", which satirized religious intolerance by pretending to share the Anglican church's prejudices against nonconformists. In 1703, when Defoe was discovered to have written the treatise, he was arrested and punished with an indeterminate sentence in prison. Robert Harley, the Speaker of the House of Commons, granted Defoe his release in November 1703, on the condition that he agreed to become a secret agent and public propagandist for the government. During his time in prison Defoe's business had collapsed, so he turned to journalism for a living. From 1704 to 1713 he published a tri-weekly news paper entitled "The Review", for which he did most of the writing. Its opinions and interpretations were often independent, but in general "The Review" leaned on the government in power. Defoe wrote strongly in favor of union with Scotland, and his duties as a secret agent may have included other activities in favor of union, which was achieved in 1707. In 1709 he wrote a History of the Union.