[nukkad] Thomas Paine : An Unsung Hero

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Birth, life and death. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Coincidence? 
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Thomas Paine 

An Unsung Hero

by Keith S Cornish

Two men are regarded as having contributed equally to
the successful outcome of the American War of
Independence, George Washington in directing the
movement of the soldiers and another man whose words
in a time of crisis inspired those soldiers.

This man's first pamphlet, which Washington ordered to
be read to the troops, begins with these words "These
are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink
from the service of his country; but he who stands it
now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered....." With
Washington's troops near disintegration, Thomas Paine,
a man about whom few people have heard or know what he
did, published those words in mid-winter on December
19th 1776.

He was the first person to use the phrase 'The United
States of America', so let us recall the life and work
of a man dedicated to liberty and reason.

He was born into a Quaker family on 29th January 1737
in Thetford, Norfolk, England. His formal education
was minimal and, after working for a while at his
father's trade as a corset maker, he chose to go to
sea as a privateer. Fortunately, because of sickness,
he missed sailing on a vessel that lost most of its
crew.

He became an exciseman and spent some of his meagre
wage on books and scientific apparatus until dismissed
after publishing, in 1772, a stormy argument for
better pay for excisemen.

He was unfortunate in marriage but his abilities were
recognised by Dr Benjamin Franklin who advised him to
go to America and provided a letter of introduction.

Paine arrived in Philadelphia in November 1774 and
secured work as co-editor of The Pennsylvania
Magazine. He wrote and published poems and other
articles anonymously (or under non-deplumes): such
works as his scathing denunciation of the slave trade,
which he signed "Justice and Humanity".

There was fighting against the British troops at
Lexington and Concord in mid 1775. On 10th January
1776 Paine published the pamphlet Common Sense,
showing why America should become independent of
Britain, emphasising how unjust and foolish was the
monarchal system of government. This publication paved
the way for The Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson has always been credited with having
written the Declaration of Independence but evidence
now available reveals that Thomas Paine produced the
draft for this document. In Common Sense he argues
that a manifesto be published which could be sent to
other nations and would tell why America was forced to
break ties with Britain. The causes which impel the
separation are proclaimed in Common Sense.

On 11th June 1776 Congress voted for such a document.
A committee of five was appointed but at the last
moment one was obliged to answer a call to his home
and Jefferson took his place. Paine produced a draft,
of which the John Adams' family still retains a copy.

This carries a clause to end slavery and this clause
was omitted from the Declaration. Had it been
included, the Civil War, ninety years later, would not
have been fought. Why was this clause significant?
Because slavery appalled Paine but Jefferson, at his
death, still owned 200 slaves and any draft from him
would not have included this clause.

The phrasing in the draft and the peculiar use of
capitals and the spelling of words brand it to be the
work of Thomas Paine. It was condensed, mutilated and
then submitted to Congress by the chairman of the
Committee, Thomas Jefferson. It is far easier to
modify a draft on hand than to start with blank paper
and, in twenty days, produce such a Declaration of
Independence.

It was typical of the integrity of Paine that he never
openly claimed the credit, although it was hinted.

Paine enlisted, served as aide-de-camp to General
Nathaniel Green and wrote a total of 16 'Crisis
Papers'.

In 1777 Congress appointed him Secretary to the
Committee of Foreign Affairs, in which position he was
obliged to reveal that Silas Deane was taking personal
profit from war aid from France. Paine was dismissed
but subsequent investigation proved that he was
correct.

He was appointed Clerk of the General Assembly of
Pennsylvania in November 1779 and that body, in March
1780, was the first to pass an Act for the abolition
of slavery. The preamble is attributed to Thomas
Paine. As Clerk, Paine was able to observe the
suffering of the American soldiers because of the lack
of supplies, and he took $500 from his own salary of
$1690 for a fund, which led to the foundation of the
Bank of America. In his pamphlet Public Good he called
for a Convention to update the Articles of
Confederation.

In 1781, together with John Laurens, he went to
France, where Louis XVI 'loaded him with favours'
which were instrumental in Washington's final victory.
For this service Paine received neither payment nor
acknowledgment.

When the American Revolution ended Paine was
poverty-stricken, for whilst his pamphlets had been
sold in hundreds of thousands, he had refused to
profit from them and this stance he maintained all his
life.

George Washington endorsed a petition to Congress for
financial assistance but Paine's opponents buried it
until December 1784 when a payment of $3000 was made,
an amount less than the cost of his journey to France.
However, Pennsylvania gave him $500 and New York
presented him with a 277 - acre farm at Rochelle, so
he was able to concentrate on his plans for a 500 -
foot iron arch bridge and other inventions. Later he
was granted patents in Britain for his bridge. At
least one was built but he was cheated out of any
remuneration there from.

In 1786 Paine's principles of a republican government,
as opposed to monarchal rule, were enshrined in the
Constitution, in which the term 'sovereign' has
'subject' for its correlation. This concept was later
rejected by the Eleventh Amendment.

Paine returned to Europe in mid 1787 and spent time in
both France and England, where he was recognised and
feted as the author of Common Sense. Paine's vision of
a Europe without kings was enhanced by the French
Revolution and the fact of him being asked to take
part in the writing of the French Constitution, which
included many of his concepts, such as the abolition
of slavery.

The degree of honour accorded Paine was shown when M
de Layfette gave him the key to the destroyed Bastille
for presentation to President Washington and later
Paine was elected to the French National Convention.

In England he warned Prime Minister William Pitt
against involvement in a war against France over
Holland.

When, in November 1790, Edmund Burke published
Reflections on the Revolution in France, Paine was
outraged and replied with his celebrated Rights of
Man. When Burke responded, Paine published Rights of
Man Part 2 in February 1792.

In this work he analysed the reasons for the political
discontent in Europe and spoke out against the evils
of arbitrary governments, poverty, illiteracy,
unemployment and war. He argued against hereditary
rights, in favour of republics over monarchies and
advocated a progressive income tax to finance
education, relief for the poor, aged pensions and
public works for the unemployed. The ruling class of
Britain was outraged. The books were banned and the
publisher jailed.

On 18th December 1792 Thomas Paine was charged at
Guildhall, London, that he "being a person of a
wicked, malicious and seditious disposition" etc "did
publish that the crown of this kingdom was contrary to
the rights of the inhabitants......." and so forth.
The Attorney-General, who prosecuted, said that he
would not read out the many "false, wicked and
scandalous assertions" but would read only a few more,
such as "to inherit a crown is to inherit the people,
as if they were flocks and herds." The famous Thomas
Erskine defended Paine but the carefully selected
jury, which received two guineas each and a free
dinner for a conviction and nothing otherwise, decided
to return a verdict of guilty. Laws were passed to
restrict free speech and publication.

Paine was indicted for treason and his arrest ordered.
He left for Dover where the Collector of Customs
subjected him to a thorough search. Among his letters
were those from the Secretary of State in America and
from President Washington. When the Collector began to
read, Paine's friend Frost retrieved the letter and
rebuked him for reading such a private letter. Frost
then read aloud the last sentence above Washington's
signature "....and as no man can feel a greater
interest in the happiness of mankind than I do, it is
the firm wish of my heart that the enlightened policy
of the present age may diffuse to all men those
blessings to which they are entitled and lay the
foundation of happiness for future generations." The
letters were returned and Paine and his friends sailed
to France. Twenty minutes later the order for Paine's
arrest reached Dover.

He returned to France to take up his Convention seat
with the applause of the crowd and through triumphant
arches. He recommended the end of the monarchal
system. He strongly opposed the killing of Louis XVI
and this was used against him when Robespierre gained
power.

Paine realised that killing Louis could lead to
invasion by the European countries that had ties to
the deposed monarch. Some of the nobility appealed to
William Pitt for money to secure the life of Louis but
Pitt refused to attempt to save the life of America's
friend. If Louis and his family had been banished to
America, as Paine proposed, how different the history
of Europe would have been.

The political scene in France was determined by
specific parties and when Robespierre came to power
Paine was arrested and imprisoned on 28th December
1793. He was just able to arrange for the publication
of The Age of Reason before his incarceration.
Anticipating his arrest, he had finished this work six
hours previously. His reason for writing it was "lest
we lose sight of morality, of humanity and of the
theology that is true."

Paine became very ill in the Luxemburg prison, while
outside France suffered the 'Reign of Terror'; and
prisoners were taken away daily to the guillotine.
Paine wrote letters to try to secure his release but
was frustrated by the American Minister in France,
Gouverneur Morris, who was his enemy and stood to gain
by his death.

Morris wrote to Secretary, Thomas Jefferson, "Lest I
forget it, I must mention that Thomas Paine is in
prison, where he amuses himself with a pamphlet
against Jesus Christ........." 

The Age of Reason Part 2 was written whilst in prison.

Each day a chalk mark was made on the outside of the
doors of those to be taken to the guillotine. Because
Paine was so ill, his door was left open during the
day and so the chalk-mark was made on the inside, but
his door was closed when the condemned were collected.
The next day Robespierre was removed from power but
Paine was not released until 4th November 1794. He was
nursed back to health by the new American Minister in
Paris, James Monroe, in whose house he now read what
were reported as his dying words before his execution.
They were a rejection of all his words and principles.
When his health improved he was readmitted to the
National Convention.

In the pamphlet The Decline and Fall of the English
System of Finance dated 8th April 1796, Paine
predicted the suspension of the Bank of England that
occurred the next year. The proceeds of this pamphlet
he devoted to the relief of the prisoners in Newgate
prison held for debts.

In 1797 he published Agrarian Justice, which attacked
the inequality of property ownership.

His pamphlet entitled Maritime Compact was published
in 1800. It includes ten articles for the security of
neutral commerce to be signed by the nations entering
the 'Unarmed Association' which he proposed.

Paine was consulted by Napoleon Bonaparte but this
dialogue ended when Napoleon rejected the republican
principles and declared himself Emperor.

As Britain exercised control over the sea routes,
Paine delayed returning to America until September
1802. During this time, he maintained cordial
relationships with several families, including the
Bonnevilles and Sir Robert Smith, for whose wife he
wrote the poem The Castle in the Air as a tribute to
her kindness during his imprisonment.

On 30th October of the same year, Paine landed at
Baltimore to a mixed welcome of praise and abuse. On
25th December he wrote to Jefferson suggesting the
purchase of Louisiana and how it should be done.
Jefferson replied that he also was contemplating such
a purchase.

Paine was a Deist and it was his conception of the
nature of a perfect god which was the basis of his
attack on the Bible, on the Church and all book-based
religions. Of course his statements could not be
allowed to go unchallenged. The Bishop of Landaff made
an attempt at a challenge but sank the Church deeper
into the quicksand, for Paine's observations were
devastating and have never been proved to be faulty or
false. Religious leaders, such as Bishop Spong, are
slowly recognising the validity of The Age of Reason,
but they can only go so far without admitting that
Christianity is morally bankrupt and completely
fraudulent.

The Church has never forgiven Paine, has continued to
oppose his principles and has downplayed his enormous
contribution to human rights and to the living
standards, which are recognised today.

The Bonnevilles migrated to the United States and a
complete file of Paine's writings and letters were
given to Madame Bonneville to assist in proposed folio
works. She became a Roman Catholic convert and the
project never proceeded. This invaluable collection
was destroyed in a fire.

Paine was ostracised and died on 8th June 1809. He
could well be described as the 'Creator of Modern
Democracy' but the Christian world rewarded Paine with
abuse and vilification. Theodore Roosevelt described
Thomas Paine as a "filthy little atheist" - three lies
in three words. He was not filthy, was five feet ten
inches tall with broad shoulders and was a Deist.

The tide is turning. On 30th January 1937 The Times of
London referred to him as "the English Voltaire" and
on 18th May 1962 his bust was placed in the New York
University Hall of Fame.

Atheists honour Thomas Paine for his impact on the
concepts of liberty and equality of citizens before
the law, and for his condemnation of the Bible and
Christianity.

Bibliography

The Life of Thomas Paine by Moncure D Conway

Thomas Paine-Author of the Declaration of Independence
by Joseph Lewis

Thomas Paine by Chapman Cohen

Encyclopedia Britannica

Tom Paine by John Keane



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