Thomas Paine:
The Times That Tried His Soul
by Judah
Freed
THOMAS
PAINE (1737-1809), English writer and social activist, is
best known for his popular essay, Common Sense,
the pivotal historic call for American independence and
democracy.
Driven by his own longing for
freedom and justice, Paine's thinking was deeply
influenced by English and French writers like Locke,
Voltaire, Rousseau, and others in the movement today
called the Enlightenment.
Thomas Paine published Common
Sense in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, so today
is the 233rd anniversary of its publication. With only
2.5 million people then living in the 13 colonies, more
than 125,000 copies of the pamphlet sold in the first
three months, and 500,000 copies sold during Paine's
lifetime.
Inspired by his essay, the
American colonists rallied behind the struggling
rebellion and transofrmed it into a revolution, thereby
creating the world's first modern republic. Without
Common Sense to sway public opinion, most
historians now agree, the American revolultion would have
failed from lack of popular support. Said 18th century
poet and diplomat Joel Barlow, "Washington's sword would
have been wielded in vain had it not been supported by
the pen of Paine."
During the war, Paine wrote
The American Crisis to sustain public support for
independence. After the war, he went to France to witness
their revolution, defending its ideals in The Rights
of Man. Honored at first, he later was imprisoned
during the Reign of Terror. While in prison, he began to
write The Age of Reason, a critique of religion
that yielded a violent public backlash in
America.
Returning to the United States
in 1801, finding himself an outcast, he died eight years
later in poverty and obscurity. Thomas Paine changed our
world for the better. On his shoulders others
stand.
>
CLICK HERE TO READ THOMAS PAINE'S BIOGRAPHY
<
