Thomas Paine Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The words and deeds of author and revolutionary Thomas Paine (1737–1809) made him one of the most famous and, in some quarters, infamous defenders of liberty. As political wr iter and Paine’s contemporary, Joel Barlow proclaimed, “The great American cause owed as much to the pen of Paine as to the sword of Washington” (cited in Bratton, 123). Paine, however, believed he was fighting not solely for American liberty, but for the liberty of people everywhere. “My principle is universal,” he exclaimed. “My attachment is to all the world and not to any particular part, and if what I advance is right, [it is right] no matter where or who it comes from.”

Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737, in Thetford, England, into a Quaker family. By the time he met Benjamin Franklin in 1774, Paine had failed to secure a steady job, lost two wives, and was penniless. Franklin advised him to settle in America and provided him with letters of introduction. Paine took this advice, and arrived in Philadelphia in 1774 and became editor for the Pennsylvania Magazine. He wrote many critical essays attacking slavery, the anachronism of monarchy, and British colonial rule. He quickly proved himself a popular social critic with a remarkable ability to explain complex issues in a language that ordinary people could understand.

Paine’s most celebrated contribution to the American revolutionary cause was his pamphlet Common Sense (1774). Using simple arguments, common sense, and easily understood facts, he demanded complete independence of the American colonies from England. Common Sense sold several thousands of copies and inspired the Declaration of Independence. Paine refused to accept any money for his revolutionary pamphlet, and instead donated the royalties to General George Washington’s army. To boost the morale of American troops during the American Revolution (1776–1783), Paine wrote a series of papers entitled the American Crisis. It was in one of these papers that the words “the United States of America” first appeared.

After the war, Paine returned to England in 1787, and turned his attention to defending the French Revolution (1789–1799). His book, The Rights of Man (1791–1792), defended the natural rights of individuals against intrusion from the state. He believed only authority resting upon the continuous consent of the people was legitimate. The Rights of Man became extremely popular among the common people, which made it all the more subversive. Consequently, Paine was charged with treason in an English court. On the eve of his arrest, he sailed for France, where he was granted citizenship, but later was jailed and nearly executed, this time by the Jacobin revolutionaries, for opposing the execution of the deposed King Louis XVI. While in prison, Paine wrote The Age of Reason (1795). Although it was denounced as an atheist manifesto, the work held that God had blessed human beings with the capacity to scrutinize any religious authority claiming a monopoly on truth.

After James Monroe, minister to France, secured Paine’s release from the French prison, Paine returned to the United States only to find himself vilified in the popular press as a liar and a drunk due to the uproar caused by The Age of Reason.

Thomas Paine, a British subject charged with treason, a French citizen condemned to the guillotine, and an American patriot ostracized for supposedly being an atheist died on June 8, 1809, in New York City.

Bibliography:

Bratton, Fred Gladstone. The Legacy of the Liberal Spirit: Men and Movements in the Making of Modern Thought. Boston: Beacon Press, 1960.
Nelson, Craig. Thomas Paine. New York: Viking, 2006.
Paine, Thomas. The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine. Edited by Philip S. Foner. New York: Citadel Press, 1945.

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