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Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine. Cole Griffin. Born 1737 in Norfolk, England Worked various jobs including excise officer, minister, teacher, shop owner, and apprenticed corset maker Fired from Board of Excise, rehired, and then fired once more

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Thomas Paine

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  1. Thomas Paine Cole Griffin

  2. Born 1737 in Norfolk, England • Worked various jobs including excise officer, minister, teacher, shop owner, and apprenticed corset maker • Fired from Board of Excise, rehired, and then fired once more • First political work – The Case of the Officers of Excise, asked for better pay and conditions • Moved to Philadelphia in 1774 • Died in June 1809 • “I have always regarded Paine as one of the greatest of all Americans. Never have we had a sounder intelligence in this republic.” – Thomas Edison

  3. Ideology and views • Argues against institutionalized religion • Advocate of deism • Secular humanism, use of reason and ethics as opposed to supernatural and religious reasoning • Freethinker, often considered a radical

  4. Common Sense (1776) • “There is something very absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.” • Often considered to be essential to the American Revolution, urged people to form an independent republic – earned Paine the title “the Father of the American Revolution” • Attacked the ideas of monarchy and hereditary aristocracy

  5. The American Crisis (1776 – 1783) • Series of pamphlets during the American Revolution • “These are the times that try men's souls.” • Intended to increase morale and motivate citizens • Although Paine’s deist beliefs can be spotted, he mentions that God supports the American cause

  6. Rights of Man (1791) • Response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France • Defended and supported the French Revolution • Says the revolution is righteous and often necessary when a government fails to protect citizens and their rights • Expands on Locke’s idea of natural rights -- says that when a government gives these rights only by law, it is implied that these rights are not natural • Favored classic liberalism • Paine was elected to the French National Convention the following year • Arrested in 1793 in Paris, released the following year

  7. The Age of Reason (1794, 1795, 1807) • “All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” • Attacks institutionalized religion and promotes deism • One of the most prominent arguments against religion, specifically Christianity • Caused a short uprising of deism in America • Often criticized for poor vulgar language and bad writing style

  8. Agrarian Justice (1797) • Advocates an estate tax, pension to fund the elderly and disabled • Introduced the concept of a basic income guarantee • Argued against Richard Watson, said upper and lower socioeconomic classes were arbitrary, not a result of any divine choice

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