Thomas Paine

(1737 - 1809)

Founding Fathers: Elites of the American Revolution, Prof. Beer November 2010, Graz

Luka Pejic

Influenced by:

William Godwin

(1756 - 1836)Revolutions are the product of passion, not of

sober and tranquil reason.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(1712 - 1778)Man is born free, and everywhere he is in shackles.

John Locke(1632 - 1704)

Where there is no property there is

no injustice.

Also known as Father of the American Revolution

and Radical Founding Father

Oil, ca. 1858, by Bass Otis

• Came out of ‘’the lower orders’’ of England

Developed his intellectual skills through self-study

process Eye-witnessed the brutality

and injustice executed by the state

Here lies the body of John CrowHere lies the body of John CrowWho once was high but now is low;Who once was high but now is low;Ye brother crows take warning all,Ye brother crows take warning all,For as you rise, so must you fall.For as you rise, so must you fall.

(‘’Thomas Paine: Common Sense for (‘’Thomas Paine: Common Sense for the Modern Era’’, p. 63)the Modern Era’’, p. 63)

Wrote it when he was eight years old

Worked as a stay-maker, privateer, teacher, tobacco seller, tax collector…

Tavern debates and petitions

The Case of the Officers of Excise (1772)

- Paine’s first political work

- Demanding higher salaries and better working conditions for him and his co-workers

Emigration to British colonial America on Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion (1774)

African Slavery in America [1775]

Our Traders in MEN (an unnatural commodity!) must know Our Traders in MEN (an unnatural commodity!) must know the wickedness of the SLAVE-TRADE, if theythe wickedness of the SLAVE-TRADE, if they

attend to reasoning, or the dictates of their own hearts: and attend to reasoning, or the dictates of their own hearts: and such as shun and stifle all these, willfully sacrifice such as shun and stifle all these, willfully sacrifice

Conscience, and the character of integrity to that golden Conscience, and the character of integrity to that golden idol. idol.

One of the first essays he wrote in America

*** From the 16th to the 19th century an estimated 645,000 Africans were shipped as slaves to what is now the United States(S. Behrendt, Harvard University, 1999)

‘‘Common Sense (1776)’’Published anonymously(Written by an Englishman)

First bold argument for independence

Sold in hundreds of thousands of copies

Vigorous attack upon the King

Before Common Sense Americans perceived Parliament as usurpators of their and King’s rights

Background of the problem…

George III (1738 - 1820)

British Parliament

:) :(Glorious Revolution (1688) – parliamentary supremacy in the Commonwealth of England

- - - Americans defied this since they did not consent to the Revolution

‘‘Good King George’’

• In Paine’s words George III was:

ROYAL CRIMINAL

DAMN TYRANT

FULL BLOODED NERO

SULLEN-TEMPERED PHARAOH

Everything that is right or reasonable

pleads for separation. The blood of the

slain, the weeping voice of natures

cries, ‘TIS TIME TO PART’.

There is no distinction between the King and the Parliament as political factors

Criticism of Common Sense

‘‘UNCOMMON PHRENZY!’’

EMPIRE PROVIDES AMERICANS WITH SECURITY AND PERSONAL LIBERTIES

ETC.

However, revolution was on the way . . .

Paine’s reflections on Common Sense‘’‘’I saw an opportunity, I saw an opportunity,

in which I thought I in which I thought I could do some good, could do some good, and I followed exactly and I followed exactly

what my heart what my heart dictated. I neither read dictated. I neither read

books, nor studied books, nor studied other people’s other people’s

opinions. I thought for opinions. I thought for myself.’’ myself.’’

Written in 1793, ‘‘Common Sense and Other Political Writings’’ (p. 20)

Oil painting by Laurent Dabos, circa 1791

Aftermath of the RevolutionPaine’s revolutionary Paine’s revolutionary internationalisminternationalism Involvement in the French

Revolution

Rights of Man (1791) - each social institution that does not benefit the nation is illegitimate, especially the Monarchy, the Nobility, and the Military.

Paine opposed Robespierre’s and Napoleon’s dictatorship

Some ideas of Thomas Paine and their influence

‘’Society in every state is a blessing, but Government

even in its best state is but a necessary evil…’’

H. Zinn, A People’s History of the United States (p. 53-

55)

Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

"The best government is

that which governs least.“

(Civil Disobediance,

1849)

‘‘Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.’’

Noam Avram Chomsky (1928)

‘‘The Bible is one of themost genocidal books in

history.’’

Thomas Paine in popular culture

In 1969, a Prominent Americans series stamp honoring Paine was issued

Beer named after him

Statue in Bordentown City,

New Jersey

Nothing stayed the same, but there

were always renegades

Like Chief Sitting Bull, Tom Paine

Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X

They were renegades of their

time and ageThe mighty Renegades

(Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Renegades of Funk,

1983)

Conclusion

RADICAL INTELLECTUAL WHOSE PAMPHLETS (COMMON SENSE) GREATLY INFLUENCED THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

AROUSE RESENTMENT AGAINST THE BRITISH CROWN AND INITIATED DEBATES ABOUT INDENPENDENCE

PAINE CRITICIZED MONARCHY, SLAVERY, ORGANIZED RELIGION ETC.

BELONGS TO THE SCHOOL OF 18TH CENTURY ENLIGHTMENT (LOCKE, ROUSSEAU…)

ONE OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL REVOLUTIONARIES

Complete Works of Thomas PaineComplete Works of Thomas Paine (www.thomaspaine.org)

Works by Thomas PaineWorks by Thomas Paine (www.gutenberg.org)