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THOMAS PAINE POLITICAL PROPAGANDIST 1737 - 1809
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THOMAS PAINEPOLITICAL PROPAGANDIST 1737 - 1809Biographical BackgroundWhen listing the great writers of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams immediately come to mind. However, Thomas Paine was actually more influential. According to historian Gregory Claeys, Paine’s writings “were read by more men and women than any other political author in history.”1 As the author of Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason, Paine expressed much of the discontent of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic during the 18th century. However, he is often overlooked as a major contributor to the field of political philosophy. Some scholars believe this lack of recognition is due to Nine’s modest upbringing and education. Unlike most propagandists of the era, Paine was not an educated or wealthy man. Despite this social handicap, he was able to passionately and accurately express the political sentiments of the vast majority of people. According to Claeys, “He was not a trained political philosopher, but a common man with an uncommonly sharp mind who was profoundly angered by the oppression and arrogance of Britain’s upper classes as well as by hereditary rule generally.”2 Paine’s father was a British corsetmaker who was too poor to afford a formal education for young Thomas. Thus, he learned his father’s trade.3 However, while living in London, Paine met Benjamin Franklin who urged him to move to America. During his lifetime, Paine also lived in France. As a trans-Atlantic traveler, be had a profound influence on the revolutionary movements in all three countries. Because of his impoverished upbringing, Paine understood from first-hand experience the personal pain of the underprivileged and translated that pain into eloquent books about fundamental change in government and society. Among the hardships he endured during his life was the death of his first wife and ridicule as an exciseman (otherwise known as a tax collector). His modest early life as well as Quaker background are believed to have instilled in Paine an egalitarian philosophy that emphasized the natural rights of all individuals.4 Some might consider Paine a kind of 18th century Renaissance man because of his diverse interests. Those interests spanned more than the purely political but also covered other issues related to humanity in general. He was an advocate for freeing all slaves as well as a pioneer in the field of international arbitration. Additionally, he opposed British colonial policies in India and Africa.5 However, it was as a political critic that established Paine as a great thinker. Political and Social PhilosophyThomas Paine was an outspoken critic of monarchial governments and an advocate of republican government. He was also a vocal critic of religious interference in affairs of government. As an advocate of the separation of church and state he often stood alone in his secular beliefs. At the time, it was an accepted practice for religious officials—particularly Catholic Church clergy—to be actively involved in affairs of government. Paine opposed such involvement and was often attacked for his opposition.
to protect.6 Thus, he called for radical programs such as a progressive income tax to provide for the helpless and the aged. Among the more modern reforms he advocated were for an international organization that would ensure world peace, and equal rights for women. A review of one of his last works, Agrarian Justice suggests that he had socialist leanings. He used this book to lay out a comprehensive plan for bringing about socialism in France, England, and America. Unlike other plans developed by previous philosophers, Paine does not suggest collective ownership of property, but rather, a “fund” created by and contributed to all property owners which would support the less fortunate.7 Because Paine often wrote about the duty of individuals in relationship to society, he is compared to other social contract theorists like Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. However, a key concept that sets Paine apart of these other philosophers is the purpose of the social contract. Unlike Locke and Hobbes, Paine viewed the beginning of government as having a positive purpose, not a defensive measure against anarchy.8 Religious BeliefsPaine is often accused of being an atheist. However, although he had a strong Christian faith, he did not believe the church had any place in government. Instead he sought to secularize religion in revolutionary terms. His was a unique and solitary view of religion. On the one hand, he expressed most completely the ideals of the Enlightenment—faith in the immutable law and order of nature as a divine revelation. He also believed in the omnipotence of reason where there is freedom to debate all questions. However, his tolerance of all people, coupled with the belief of the equal rights and dignity of the individual differed from the mainstream of religious beliefs of his era. Much of his religious philosophy and bitter criticism of organized religion, namely the Catholic Church are found in The Age of Reason. Summary of Writings and PublicationsEven though he was a relatively uneducated man, Thomas Paine was a prolific and proficient writer. As previously mentioned, he was an enormously popular writer during his day and widely read in the colonies as well as in Europe. The following are among his best known works. Common Sense (1776) This was perhaps his most influential book in America. In 1776 almost 100,000 copies were sold in the colonies. Written anonymously, Paine used Common Sense to call on Americans to declare their independence from Britain.9 It is divided into four parts. The first part sets out to discuss society and government and the difference between the two. Part two focuses on monarchy and succession while incorporating Biblical references. After these parameters have been laid out, part three proceeds to denounce government by hereditary succession, in other words, successions of kings to governance. Finally, a new plan for independence is offered in the form of a continental government. Vie Crisis (1776-83) These were a series of 16 essays that were intended to boost the morale of revolutionary soldiers as well as promote the colonial cause in Europe. Paine used these essays to emphasize the positive aspects of American society such as a pioneering spirit and zeal for independence. In one of the essays, Paine compares England’s dominance over America to slavery.10 The most lasting line of prose from Paine’s work comes from these tracts: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” The Rights of Man (1791-2) Paine used this treatise to call for a French revolution and challenge England to revolutionize its aristocratic institutions. He discussed a system of individual talent, production and merit as the rightful way to lead and govern society, not rule by aristocracy or hereditary. The Age of Reason (1794-6) This book became Paine’s most controversial publication. Moving away from political discourse, be used this publication to attack institutionalized religion, namely Christianity. Paine rejected the reliance of the church on the Bible as the word of God. He believed that the only way to truly know God and his will was to rely on reason, which he believed to be God’s gift to humans. All other sources for discovering God were corrupt and lacked validation. Further, he viewed organized religion as a “powerful weapon of control” which restricts individual discoveries about God.11 Agrarian Justice (1795) Paine’s last significant book Agrarian Justice presents a case for social and economic reform that closely resembles many socialist plans such as a redistribution of property and wealth. Criticism and Conclusion Because many of his views were contradictory to the prevailing thought of society, Paine was harshly criticized. Indeed, he was arrested and imprisoned in France for advocating policies not popular to the government. Ironically, he had fled to France because he was about to be arrested in England for sedition and treason. Perhaps one of the reasons Paine is not grouped with the great leaders of the American revolution was because he was a critic of some of the heroes of that war including George Washington. Most vocal among Paine’s critics during that time was John Adams. However, it is difficult to dismiss Paine’s impact on the creation of the United States. As biographers Jerome Wilson and William Ricketson wrote, “Paine was a rebel, a revolutionist, but he was also a propagandist par excellence, a mover of minds—and perhaps the most effective writer of persuasive literature in the history of the English language.” 12 Thus, a study of his writings is useful to understand the basic structure of the beginning of democracy in America. 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