Selected Writings of Thomas Paine

Synopsis

Richard E. Roberts, in the Introduction of this book, explains that Thomas Paine ". . . is the first Revolutionary of them all. Before Washington whispered of independence, Thomas Paine shouted for it. . . in his pamphlet Common Sense. . . . In it, Paine demanded a declaration of independence from England; six months later, our Declaration of Independence was written and signed. Paine had a hand in its writing. Paine could fight as well as write. He joined Washington's army and on a bitter night of retreat, he wrote Crisis 1 on a drumhead by a campfire. . . . Washington had it read to his pitiful army and they turned to whip the British at Trenton. . . . He wrote another Crisis whenever he thought it necessary. He wrote letters to every important man in the country, he reported the progress of the war, he rejoiced at victory. He was the one-man propaganda bureau of the American Revolution . . . he fought battles and wrote what he saw and thought and what his comrades saw and felt. He put into printed words the things they wanted known, he was their voice and their guide. He nourished Liberty with his breath and sweat. In peace, he went to England. There he worked on his iron bridge, his most important invention. He received a patent on it from the government of George III. But Liberty was being born in France, and Paine had to go there. He defended the French Revolution as he had defended the American. He wrote The Rights of Man, an answer to Burke's verbal attacks on the idea of freedom. Paine's logic levelled, if it did not convince, the believers in the divine right of kings. Though Paine hated kings, he loved men, and when a man was no longer a king, Paine could find no enthusiasm for his decapitation. So the French terrorists imprisoned him. Paine wrote The Age of Reason, trying to free men from theocracy and superstition as he had freed them from monarchy and slavishness. . . . Paine returned to the United States on a government ship sent by his friend Jefferson. . . . He had already said that negro slavery was vicious. He wrote of systems of government, the conduct of banks, free men's ways of laying and collecting taxes. He cried for old-age benefits, he pleaded for free education for the poor, he wanted pensions for ex-soldiers. He speculated on the causes of yellow fever, he defended the freedom of the press, he poured a flood of political articles into magazines and newspapers. He died in 1809, not greatly regarded by the new generation who did not know or had forgotten that he helped forge the liberty they enjoyed. Politicians since Paine have charmed their constituents with his words and phrases, they have borrowed his ideas and used them for their own. You will find here words which are the germ of the Monroe Doctrine and others which are the seed, first of the League of Nations, and now the United Nations. Maybe in another two hundred years, we will use the rest of the ideas Paine left us. If we do, he will be happy, he was all his life a lover of Liberty."

Copyright:

1945

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

376 Pages

Publisher:

Everybody's Vacation Publishing Company

Date of Addition:

01/08/15

Copyrighted By:

Richard E. Roberts

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Politics and Government

Submitted By:

Barbara Baker

Proofread By:

Fatima Alsofayyan

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.