Category Archives: Thomas Paine

There is no question that Thomas Paine was a brave man.  When he wrote Common Sense and The American Crisis, Paine earned the ire of the English government.  His publication of Part 1 of The Rights of Man aroused the anger of … Continue reading →

When he arrived in America 1774, Thomas Paine was 37 years old.  He may have been at what have been the low point of his life.  The voyage had made him so terribly ill he was delirious when he was carried off the ship; he … Continue reading →

We usually think of Paine’s contemporaries as our nation’s Founding Fathers. However, as Paine was born in Great Britain, I suspect he would have also included many Englishmen as contemporaries. So it is that some time ago, I wrote a … Continue reading →

Sometimes men have debates of real substance. Thomas Paine had such debates. With the Rights of Man (Part I here and Part II here), Paine countered Edmund Burke‘s November 1, 1790 pamphlet, Reflections on the Revolution in France. Paine defended … Continue reading →

Right at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, the Patriots made freedom of religion one of their goals. Consider this excerpt from Common Sense by Thomas Paine. As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensible duty of … Continue reading →

Quakers and other anti-war groups have been with our nation since its founding.  Thus in the interest of an active national defense, someone has alway had to refute their arguments.  Thus during the American Revolutionary War, Thomas Paine, in a … Continue reading →