105-627: The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8, 1775 in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. The Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada more than a week earlier, but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated King George III to prevent further conflict. It
210-635: A supernumerary officer. In December 1762, he became an Excise Officer in Grantham , Lincolnshire; in August 1764, he was transferred to Alford , also in Lincolnshire, at a salary of £50 per annum. On August 27, 1765, he was dismissed as an Excise Officer for "claiming to have inspected goods he did not inspect". On July 31, 1766, he requested his reinstatement from the Board of Excise, which they granted
315-464: A "crapulous mass". Adams disagreed with the type of radical democracy promoted by Paine (that men who did not own property should still be allowed to vote and hold public office) and published Thoughts on Government in 1776 to advocate a more conservative approach to republicanism. Sophia Rosenfeld argues that Paine was highly innovative in his use of the commonplace notion of "common sense". He synthesized various philosophical and political uses of
420-479: A bitter open letter to George Washington , whom he denounced as an incompetent general and a hypocrite. He published the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1797), discussing the origins of property and introducing the concept of a guaranteed minimum income through a one-time inheritance tax on landowners. In 1802, he returned to the U.S. He died on June 8, 1809. Only six people attended his funeral, as he had been ostracized for his ridicule of Christianity and his attacks on
525-590: A citizen of Pennsylvania "by taking the oath of allegiance at a very early period". In March 1775, he became editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine , a position he conducted with considerable ability. Before Paine's arrival in America, sixteen magazines had been founded in the colonies and ultimately failed, each featuring substantial content and reprints from England. In late 1774, Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken announced his plan to create what he called an "American Magazine" with content derived from
630-616: A counterrevolutionary blast against the French Revolution, entitled Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), which strongly appealed to the landed class, and sold 30,000 copies. Paine set out to refute it in his Rights of Man (1791). He wrote it not as a quick pamphlet, but as a long, abstract political tract of 90,000 words which tore apart monarchies and traditional social institutions. On January 31, 1791, he gave
735-406: A fervent supporter of Deane, immediately spoke out against Paine's comments. The controversy eventually became public, and Paine was then denounced as unpatriotic for criticizing an American revolutionary. He was even physically assaulted twice in the street by Deane supporters. This much-added stress took a large toll on Paine, who was generally of a sensitive character and he resigned as secretary to
840-616: A government that was not inclined toward independence should form one that was. On May 15, they adopted a more radical preamble to this resolution, drafted by John Adams , which advised throwing off oaths of allegiance and suppressing the authority of the Crown in any colonial government that still derived its authority from the Crown. That same day, the Virginia Convention instructed its delegation in Philadelphia to propose
945-687: A letter of recommendation to Paine, who emigrated in October to the American colonies, arriving in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774. Paine barely survived the transatlantic voyage. The ship's water supplies were bad and typhoid fever killed five passengers. On arriving at Philadelphia, he was too sick to disembark. Benjamin Franklin's physician, there to welcome Paine to America, had him carried off ship; Paine took six weeks to recover. He became
1050-676: A long time friend and mentor. Franklin provided letters of introduction for Paine to use to gain associates and contacts in France. Later that year, Paine returned to London from Paris. He then released a pamphlet on August 20 called Prospects on the Rubicon: or, an investigation into the Causes and Consequences of the Politics to be Agitated at the Meeting of Parliament . Tensions between England and France were increasing, and this pamphlet urged
1155-511: A mission to travel to Paris to obtain funding for the American war effort. Paine accompanied Col. John Laurens to France and is credited with initiating the mission. It landed in France in March 1781 and returned to America in August with 2.5 million livres in silver, as part of a "present" of 6 million and a loan of 10 million. The meetings with the French king were most likely conducted in
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#17327661089391260-443: A rather small group of delegates led by John Adams believed that war was inevitable, and they decided that the wisest course of action was to remain quiet and wait for the opportune time to rally the people. This allowed Dickinson and his followers to pursue their own course for reconciliation. Dickinson was the primary author of the petition, though Benjamin Franklin , John Jay , John Rutledge , and Thomas Johnson also served on
1365-482: A resolution that called for a declaration of independence, the formation of foreign alliances, and a confederation of the states. The resolution of independence was delayed for several weeks, as advocates of independence consolidated support in their home governments. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution before the Congress, declaring the colonies independent. He urged Congress to resolve "to take
1470-709: A role either assisting Jefferson with organizing ideas within the Declaration, or contributing to the text of the original draft itself. In late 1776, Paine published The American Crisis pamphlet series to inspire the Americans in their battles against the British army. He juxtaposed the conflict between the good American devoted to civic virtue and the selfish provincial man. To inspire his soldiers, General George Washington had The American Crisis , first Crisis pamphlet, read aloud to them. It begins: These are
1575-544: A solution for Americans disgusted with and alarmed at the threat of tyranny. Paine's attack on monarchy in Common Sense is essentially an attack on George III . Whereas colonial resentments were originally directed primarily against the king's ministers and Parliament, Paine laid the responsibility firmly at the king's door. Common Sense was the most widely read pamphlet of the American Revolution. It
1680-428: A strong political perspective to its content, writing in its first issue that "every heart and hand seem to be engaged in the interesting struggle for American Liberty. " Paine wrote in the Pennsylvania Magazine that such a publication should become a "nursery of genius" for a nation that had "now outgrown the state of infancy," exercising and educating American minds, and shaping American morality. On March 8, 1775,
1785-747: A suitable constitution for the French Republic . He subsequently participated in the Constitutional Committee in drafting the Girondin constitutional project . He voted for the French Republic, but argued against the execution of Louis XVI , referred to as Louis Capet following his deposition, saying the monarch should instead be exiled to the United States: firstly, because of the way royalist France had come to
1890-630: A time when there was no compulsory education. At the age of 13, he was apprenticed to his father. Following his apprenticeship, aged 19, Paine enlisted and briefly served as a privateer , before returning to Britain in 1759. There, he became a master staymaker , establishing a shop in Sandwich, Kent . On September 27, 1759, Paine married Mary Lambert. His business collapsed soon after. Mary became pregnant; and, after they moved to Margate , she went into early labour, in which she and their child died. In July 1761, Paine returned to Thetford to work as
1995-501: Is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. In 1777, Paine became secretary of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs. The following year, he alluded to secret negotiation underway with France in his pamphlets. His enemies denounced his indiscretions. There
2100-681: Is now often called the Confederation Congress . During this period, it successfully managed the war effort, drafted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union , adopted the first U.S. constitution, secured diplomatic recognition and support from foreign nations, and resolved state land claims west of the Appalachian Mountains . Many of the delegates who attended the Second Congress had also attended
2205-592: The Pennsylvania Packet that France had " prefaced [their] alliance by an early and generous friendship ," referring to aid that had been provided to American colonies prior to the recognition of the Franco-American treaties. This was alleged to be effectively an embarrassment to France, which potentially could have jeopardized the alliance. John Jay, the President of the Congress, who had been
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#17327661089392310-723: The Battle of Bunker Hill , declaring elements of Britain's continental American possessions to be in a state of what he called an "open and avowed rebellion ". As a result, the king refused to receive the petition. Georgia had not participated in the First Continental Congress and did not initially send delegates to the Second. But with the Revolutionary War escalating, the residents of St. John's Parish in present-day Liberty County sent Lyman Hall to
2415-549: The Battles of Lexington and Concord combined with the "humble petition" would persuade the King to respond with a counter-proposal or open negotiations. Adams wrote to a friend that the petition served no purpose, that war was inevitable, and that the colonies should have already raised a navy and taken British officials as prisoner. The letter was intercepted by British officials and news of its contents reached Great Britain at about
2520-731: The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms and the Olive Branch Petition . All 13 colonies were represented by the time the Congress adopted the Lee Resolution , which declared independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, and the Congress unanimously agreed to the Declaration of Independence two days later. Congress functioned as the provisional government of the United States of America through March 1, 1781, when congress became what
2625-639: The Girondins , he was seen with increasing disfavor by the Montagnards , who were now in power. Paine was under scrutiny by the authorities also because he was a personal adversary of Gouverneur Morris , who was the American ambassador in France and a friend of George Washington . The revolutionary government, both the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security , sought to gain
2730-573: The Intolerable Acts . The introductory paragraph of the letter named twelve of the thirteen colonies, all except Georgia . The letter was approved on July 5 and signed by John Hancock , President of the Second Congress, and by representatives of the named twelve colonies. It was sent to London on July 8, 1775, in the care of Richard Penn and Arthur Lee where is now kept in the National Archives . Dickinson hoped that news of
2835-549: The Old World . Congress formally adopted the resolution of independence , but only after creating three overlapping committees to draft the Declaration, a Model Treaty , and the Articles of Confederation . The Declaration announced the states' entry into the international system; the model treaty was designed to establish amity and commerce with other states, and the Articles of Confederation established "a firm league" among
2940-479: The Pennsylvania Magazine published an unsigned abolitionist essay titled African Slavery in America . The essay is often attributed to Paine on the basis of a letter by Benjamin Rush , recalling Paine's claim of authorship to the essay. The essay attacked slavery as an "execrable commerce" and "outrage against Humanity and Justice." Consciously appealing to a broader and more working-class audience, Paine also used
3045-519: The Proclamation of Rebellion on August 23 in response to news of the Battle of Bunker Hill , declaring the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion and ordering "all Our officers… and all Our obedient and loyal subjects, to use their utmost endeavours to withstand and suppress such rebellion". The hostilities which Adams had foreseen undercut the petition, and the King had answered it before it even reached him. The King's refusal to consider
3150-553: The Rights of Man with a new preface." James Monroe used his diplomatic connections to get Paine released in November 1794. Paine became notorious because of his pamphlets and attacks on his former allies, who he felt had betrayed him. In The Age of Reason and other writings, he advocated Deism , promoted reason and freethought , and argued against religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular. In 1796, he published
3255-621: The Siege of Boston in order to prevent the movement by land of British troops stationed there. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted to create the Continental Army out of the militia units around Boston , and the next day unanimously approved a motion naming George Washington of Virginia as its commanding general. On July 6, 1775, Congress approved a Declaration of Causes outlining
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3360-501: The establishment of the constitution. Jefferson's proposal for a Senate to represent the states and a House to represent the people was rejected, but a similar proposal was adopted later in the United States Constitution . One issue of debate was large states wanting a larger say, nullified by small states who feared tyranny. The small states prevailed, and each state was afforded one vote. Another revolved around
3465-497: The 13 colonies, after the Battles of Lexington and Concord . The Second Continental Congress succeeded the First Continental Congress , which had met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, also in Philadelphia. The Second Congress functioned as the de facto federation government at the outset of the Revolutionary War by raising militias, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and writing petitions such as
3570-651: The 17th century. Here he lived above the 15th-century Bull House, the tobacco shop of Samuel Ollive and Esther Ollive. Paine first became involved in civic matters when he was based in Lewes. He appears in the Town Book as a member of the Court Leet, the governing body for the town. He was also a member of the parish vestry , an influential local Anglican church group whose responsibilities for parish business would include collecting taxes and tithes to distribute among
3675-575: The American Revolution. Virtually every American Patriot read his 47-page pamphlet Common Sense , which catalyzed the call for independence from Great Britain. The American Crisis was a pro-independence pamphlet series. Paine lived in France for most of the 1790s, becoming deeply involved in the French Revolution . While in England, he wrote Rights of Man (1791), in part a defense of the French Revolution against its critics, particularly
3780-523: The Anglo-Irish conservative writer Edmund Burke . His authorship of the tract led to a trial and conviction in absentia in England in 1792 for the crime of seditious libel . The British government of William Pitt the Younger was worried by the possibility that the French Revolution might spread to Britain and had begun suppressing works that espoused radical philosophies. Paine's work advocated
3885-518: The Articles on February 2, 1781, doing so only after Virginia relinquished its claims on land north of the Ohio River to Congress. Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain ; February 9, 1737 [ O.S. January 29, 1736] – June 8, 1809) was an English-born American Founding Father , French Revolutionary , inventor, and political philosopher. He authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), two of
3990-574: The Bank of North America for approval by Congress in December 1781 should go to Henry or John Laurens and Paine more than to Morris. Paine bought his only house in 1783 on the corner of Farnsworth Avenue and Church Streets in Bordentown City , New Jersey and he lived in it periodically until his death in 1809. This is the only place in the world where Paine purchased real estate. In 1785, Paine
4095-610: The British Ministry to reconsider the consequences of war with France. Paine sought to turn the public opinion against the war to create better relations between the countries, avoid the taxes of war upon the citizens, and not engage in a war he believed would ruin both nations. Back in London by 1787, Paine would become engrossed in the French Revolution that began two years later and decided to travel to France in 1790. Meanwhile, conservative intellectual Edmund Burke launched
4200-591: The British government did not repeal or modify the acts; however, the American Revolutionary War had started by that time with the Battles of Lexington and Concord , and the Congress was called upon to take charge of the war effort. For the first few months of the Revolutionary War, the patriots carried on their struggle in a largely ad-hoc and uncoordinated manner. Even so, they had numerous successes, seizing numerous British arsenals, driving royal officials out of several colonies, and launching
4305-486: The Committee of Foreign Affairs in 1779. Paine left the Committee without even having enough money to buy food for himself. Much later, when Paine returned from his mission to France, Deane's corruption had become more widely acknowledged. Many, including Robert Morris, apologized to Paine, and Paine's reputation in Philadelphia was restored. In 1780, Paine published a pamphlet entitled "Public Good," in which he made
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4410-400: The Committee of General Security. Sixteen American citizens were allowed to plead for Paine's release to the convention, yet President Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier of the Committee of General Security refused to acknowledge Paine's American citizenship, stating he was an Englishman and therefore a citizen of a country at war with France. Paine protested and claimed that he was a citizen of
4515-504: The First. They again elected Peyton Randolph as president of the Congress and Charles Thomson as secretary. Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts . Within two weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses ; Hancock succeeded him as president, and Thomas Jefferson replaced Randolph in
4620-484: The French government to finance the colonists in their fight for independence. Paine largely saw Deane as a war profiteer who had little respect for principle, having been under the employ of Robert Morris, one of the primary financiers of the American Revolution and working with Pierre Beaumarchais , a French royal agent sent to the colonies by King Louis to investigate the Anglo-American conflict. Paine uncovered
4725-495: The London winter distributing the 4,000 copies printed to the Parliament and others. In spring 1774, he was again dismissed from the excise service for being absent from his post without permission. The tobacco shop failed. On April 14, to avoid debtors' prison , he sold his household possessions to pay debts. He formally separated from his wife Elizabeth on June 4, 1774, and moved to London. In September, mathematician, Fellow of
4830-568: The Massachusetts Historical Society. The Sherman copy of the Declaration of Independence is one of several working drafts of the Declaration, made for Roger Sherman 's review and approval before the Committee of Five submitted a finalized draft to Congress. The Sherman Copy of the Declaration of Independence contains an inscription on the back of the document that states: "A beginning perhaps-Original with Jefferson-Copied from Original with T.P.'s permission." According to
4935-414: The Revolutionary War, Paine served as an aide-de-camp to the important general, Nathanael Greene . In what may have been an error, and perhaps even contributed to his resignation as the secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, Paine was openly critical of Silas Deane, an American diplomat who had been appointed in March 1776 by the Congress to travel to France in secret. Deane's goal was to influence
5040-600: The Revolutionary generation "the children of the twice-born". because in their childhood they had experienced the Great Awakening , which, for the first time, had tied Americans together, transcending denominational and ethnic boundaries and giving them a sense of patriotism. While there is no historical record of Paine's involvement in drafting the Declaration of Independence , some scholars of Early American History have suspected his involvement. As noted by
5145-665: The Royal Society, and Commissioner of the Excise George Lewis Scott introduced him to Benjamin Franklin , who was there as a voice for colonial opposition to British colonial rule, especially as it related to the Stamp Act , and the Townshend Acts . He was publisher and editor of the largest American newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette and suggested emigration to Philadelphia. He handed out
5250-514: The Thomas Paine National Historical Association, multiple authors have hypothesized and written on the subject, including Moody (1872), Van der Weyde (1911), Lewis (1947), and more recently, Smith & Rickards (2007). In 2018, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association introduced an early draft of the Declaration that contained evidence of Paine's involvement based on an inscription of "T.P." on
5355-494: The Thomas Paine National Historical Association, the individual referenced as "T.P." in the inscription appears to be Thomas Paine. The degree to which Paine was involved in formulating the text of the Declaration is unclear, as the original draft referenced in the Sherman Copy inscription is presumed lost or destroyed. However, John Adams' request for permission of "T.P." to copy the original draft may suggest that Paine had
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#17327661089395460-692: The Virginia delegation. The number of participating colonies also grew, as Georgia endorsed the Congress in July 1775 and adopted the continental ban on trade with Britain. The First Continental Congress had sent entreaties to King George III to stop the Intolerable Acts . They also created the Continental Association to establish a coordinated protest of these acts, boycotting British goods in protest to them. The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775, to plan further responses if
5565-399: The Washington, Lee, and Randolph families, had taken advantage of this royal charter to survey and to claim title to huge swaths of land, including much land west of the 13 colonies. In "Public Good," Paine argued that these lands belonged to the American government as represented by the Continental Congress. This angered many of Paine's wealthy Virginia friends, including Richard Henry Lee of
5670-418: The aid of the American Revolution; and secondly, because of a moral objection to capital punishment in general and to revenge killings in particular. Paine's speech in defense of Louis XVI was interrupted by Jean-Paul Marat , who claimed that, as a Quaker, Paine's religious beliefs ran counter to inflicting capital punishment and thus he should be ineligible to vote. Marat interrupted a second time, stating that
5775-446: The army. In 1785, he was given $ 3,000 by the U.S. Congress in recognition of his service to the nation. Henry Laurens (father of Col. John Laurens ) had been the ambassador to the Netherlands , but he was captured by the British on his return trip there. When he was later exchanged for the prisoner Lord Cornwallis in late 1781, Paine proceeded to the Netherlands to continue the loan negotiations. There remains some question as to
5880-432: The back of the document. During the early deliberations of the Committee of Five members chosen by Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence, John Adams made a hastily written manuscript copy of the original draft of the Declaration of Independence on June 24, 1776, known as the Sherman Copy. Adams made this copy shortly before preparing another neater, fair copy that is held in the Adams Family Papers collection at
5985-408: The case that territories west of the 13 colonies that had been part of the British Empire belonged after the Declaration of Independence to the American government, and did not belong to any of the 13 states or to any individual speculators . A royal charter of 1609 had granted to the Virginia Company land stretching to the Pacific Ocean. A small group of wealthy Virginia land speculators, including
6090-473: The claims of traditional institutions. Thus, Paine used "common sense" as a weapon to de-legitimize the monarchy and overturn prevailing conventional wisdom. Rosenfeld concludes that the phenomenal appeal of his pamphlet resulted from his synthesis of popular and elite elements in the independence movement. According to historian Robert Middlekauff , Common Sense became immensely popular mainly because Paine appealed to widespread convictions. Monarchy, he said,
6195-403: The colonies. Paine contributed two pieces to the magazine's inaugural issue dated January 1775, and Aitken hired Paine as the Magazine's editor one month later. Under Paine's leadership, the magazine's readership rapidly expanded, achieving a greater circulation in the colonies than any American magazine up until that point. While Aitken had conceived of the magazine as nonpolitical, Paine brought
6300-448: The company and under the influence of Benjamin Franklin . Upon returning to the United States with this highly welcomed cargo, Paine and probably Col. Laurens, "positively objected" that General Washington should propose that Congress remunerate him for his services, for fear of setting "a bad precedent and an improper mode". Paine made influential acquaintances in Paris and helped organize the Bank of North America to raise money to supply
6405-408: The drafting committee. Dickinson claimed that the colonies did not want independence but wanted more equitable trade and tax regulations. He asked that the King establish a lasting settlement between the Mother Country and the colonies "upon so firm a basis as to perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted by any future dissensions, to succeeding generations in both countries", beginning with the repeal of
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#17327661089396510-406: The favor of the American ambassador, not wanting to risk the alliance with the United States ; therefore, they were more inclined to focus on Paine. Paine was arrested in France on December 28, 1793, following the orders of Vadier . Joel Barlow was unsuccessful in securing Paine's release by circulating a petition among American residents in Paris. He was treated as a political prisoner by
6615-417: The financial connection between Morris, who was Superintendent for Finance of the Continental Congress, and Deane. Wealthy men, such as Robert Morris, John Jay and powerful merchant bankers , were leaders of the Continental Congress and defended holding public positions while at the same time profiting off their own personal financial dealings with governments. Amongst Paine's criticisms, he had written in
6720-433: The formal, learned style favored by many of Paine's contemporaries. Scholars have put forward various explanations to account for its success, including the historic moment, Paine's easy-to-understand style, his democratic ethos, and his use of psychology and ideology. Common Sense was immensely popular in disseminating to a very wide audience ideas that were already in common use among the elite who comprised Congress and
6825-530: The fraud and imposition of monarchy ... to promote universal peace, civilization, and commerce, and to break the chains of political superstition, and raise degraded man to his proper rank; if these things be libellous ... let the name of libeller be engraved on my tomb." Paine was an enthusiastic supporter of the French Revolution and was granted honorary French citizenship alongside prominent contemporaries such as Alexander Hamilton , George Washington , Benjamin Franklin and others. Paine's honorary citizenship
6930-427: The functions of a national government, including appointing ambassadors, signing treaties, raising armies, appointing generals, obtaining loans from Europe, issuing paper money called " Continentals ", and disbursing funds. Congress had no authority to levy taxes and was required to request money, supplies, and troops from the states to support the war effort. Individual states frequently ignored these requests. Congress
7035-399: The gathering in Philadelphia on their behalf. He participated in debates but did not vote, as he did not represent the entire colony. That changed after July 1775, when a provincial Congress decided to send delegates to the Continental Congress and to adopt a ban on trade with Britain. The Continental Congress had no explicit legal authority from the British to govern, but it assumed all
7140-448: The issue of western land claims ; states without such claims wanted those with claims to yield them to Congress. As written, western land claims remained in the hands of the individual states. Congress urged the states to give their assent quickly, and most did. The first to ratify was Virginia on December 16, 1777; 12 states had ratified the Articles by February 1779, 14 months into the process. The lone holdout, Maryland, finally ratified
7245-417: The leadership cadre of the emerging nation, who rarely cited Paine's arguments in their public calls for independence. The pamphlet probably had little direct influence on the Continental Congress' decision to issue a Declaration of Independence , since that body was more concerned with how declaring independence would affect the war effort. One distinctive idea in Common Sense is Paine's beliefs regarding
7350-453: The magazine to discuss worker rights to production. This shift in the conceptualization of politics has been described as a part of "the 'modernization' of political consciousness," and the mobilization of ever greater sections of society into political life. Paine has a claim to the title The Father of the American Revolution , which rests on his pamphlets, especially Common Sense, which crystallized sentiment for independence in 1776. It
7455-484: The manuscript to publisher Joseph Johnson . A visit by government agents dissuaded Johnson, so Paine gave the book to publisher J. S. Jordan, then went to Paris, on William Blake 's advice. He charged three good friends, William Godwin , Thomas Brand Hollis , and Thomas Holcroft , with handling publication details. The book appeared on March 13, 1791, and sold nearly a million copies. It was "eagerly read by reformers, Protestant dissenters, democrats, London craftsmen, and
7560-490: The most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances" and to prepare a plan of confederation for the newly independent states. Lee argued that independence was the only way to ensure a foreign alliance since no European monarchs would deal with America if they remained Britain's colonies. American leaders had rejected the divine right of kings in the New World , but recognized the necessity of proving their credibility in
7665-616: The most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution , and he helped to inspire the colonial era patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era ideals of human rights . Paine was born in Thetford , Norfolk, and immigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin , arriving just in time to participate in
7770-545: The nation's leaders. Paine was born on January 29, 1736 ( NS February 9, 1737), the son of Joseph Pain, a tenant farmer and stay-maker , and Frances ( née Cocke ) Pain, in Thetford , Norfolk, England. Joseph was a Quaker and Frances an Anglican . Despite claims that Paine changed the spelling of his family name upon his emigration to America in 1774, he was using "Paine" in 1769, while still in Lewes , Sussex. He attended Thetford Grammar School (1744–1749), at
7875-532: The next day, upon vacancy. While awaiting that, he worked as a staymaker. In 1767, he was appointed to a position in Grampound , Cornwall. Later he asked to leave this post to await a vacancy, and he became a school teacher in London. On February 19, 1768, he was appointed to Lewes in Sussex , a town with a tradition of opposition to the monarchy and pro-republican sentiments since the revolutionary decades of
7980-518: The pamphlet was Plain Truth , but Paine's friend, pro-independence advocate Benjamin Rush , suggested Common Sense instead. Finding a printer who was daring enough to commit his print shop to the printing of Common Sense was not easy. At the advice of Rush, Paine commissioned Robert Bell to print his work. The pamphlet came into circulation in January 1776, after the Revolution had started. It
8085-488: The peaceful nature of republics; his views were an early and strong conception of what scholars would come to call the democratic peace theory . Loyalists vigorously attacked Common Sense ; one attack, titled Plain Truth (1776), by Marylander James Chalmers , said Paine was a political quack and warned that without monarchy, the government would "degenerate into democracy". Even some American revolutionaries objected to Common Sense ; late in life John Adams called it
8190-662: The petition gave Adams and others the opportunity to push for independence, viewing the King as intransigent and uninterested in addressing the colonists' grievances. It polarized the issue in the minds of many colonists, who realized that the choice from that point forward was between complete independence and complete submission to British rule, a realization crystallized a few months later in Thomas Paine 's widely read pamphlet Common Sense . [REDACTED] Works related to Olive Branch Petition at Wikisource Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress
8295-475: The poor. On March 26, 1771, at age 34, Paine married Elizabeth Ollive, the daughter of his recently deceased landlord, whose business as a grocer and tobacconist he then entered into. From 1772 to 1773, Paine joined excise officers asking Parliament for better pay and working conditions, publishing, in summer of 1772, The Case of the Officers of Excise , a 12-page article, and his first political work, spending
8400-554: The powerful Lee family, who had been Paine's closest ally in Congress, George Washington , Thomas Jefferson and James Madison , all of whom had claims to huge wild tracts that Paine was advocating should be government owned. The view that Paine had advocated eventually prevailed when the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was passed. The animosity Paine felt as a result of the publication of "Public Good" fueled his decision to embark with Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens on
8505-465: The powerful president of the Committee of General Security . In December 1793, Vadier arrested Paine and took him to Luxembourg Prison in Paris. He completed the first part of The Age of Reason just before he was arrested. Mark Philp notes that "In prison Paine managed to produce (and to convey to Daniel Isaac Eaton, the radical London publisher) a dedication for The Age of Reason and a new edition of
8610-430: The rationale and necessity for taking up arms in the Thirteen Colonies . Two days later, delegates signed the Olive Branch Petition to King George III affirming the colonies' loyalty to the crown and imploring the king to prevent further conflict. However, by the time British Colonial Secretary Lord Dartmouth received the petition, King George III had already issued a proclamation on August 23, 1775 , in response to
8715-518: The relationship of Henry Laurens and Paine to Robert Morris as the Superintendent of Finance and his business associate, Thomas Willing, who became the first president of the Bank of North America in January 1782. They had accused Morris of profiteering in 1779 and Willing had voted against the Declaration of Independence. Although Morris did much to restore his reputation in 1780 and 1781, the credit for obtaining these critical loans to "organize"
8820-547: The right of the people to overthrow their government and was therefore targeted with a writ for his arrest issued in early 1792. Paine fled to France in September, despite not being able to speak French, but he was quickly elected to the French National Convention . The Girondins regarded him as an ally; consequently, the Montagnards regarded him as an enemy, especially Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier ,
8925-447: The same time as the petition itself. British advocates of a military response used Adams' letter to claim that the petition itself was insincere. Penn and Lee provided a copy of the petition to colonial secretary Lord Dartmouth on August 21, followed with the original on September 1. They reported back on September 2: "we were told that as his Majesty did not receive it on the throne, no answer would be given." The King had already issued
9030-614: The skilled factory-hands of the new industrial north". Undeterred by the government campaign to discredit him, Paine issued his Rights of Man, Part the Second, Combining Principle and Practice in February 1792. Detailing a representative government with enumerated social programs to remedy the numbing poverty of commoners through progressive tax measures, Paine went much farther than such contemporaries as James Burgh , Robert Potter, John Scott, John Sinclair or Adam Smith . Radically reduced in price to ensure unprecedented circulation, it
9135-512: The term in a way that permanently impacted American political thought. He used two ideas from Scottish Common Sense Realism : that ordinary people can indeed make sound judgments on major political issues, and that there exists a body of popular wisdom that is readily apparent to anyone. Paine also used a notion of "common sense" favored by philosophes in the Continental Enlightenment. They held that common sense could refute
9240-565: The thirteen free and independent states. These three things together constituted an international agreement to set up central institutions for conducting vital domestic and foreign affairs. Congress finally approved the resolution of independence on July 2, 1776. They next turned their attention to a formal explanation of this decision, the United States Declaration of Independence which was approved on July 4 and published soon thereafter. The Congress moved to Baltimore in
9345-409: The times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it
9450-400: The town. Congress was again forced to flee Philadelphia at the end of September 1777, as British troops seized and occupied the city ; they moved to York, Pennsylvania , where they continued their work. Congress passed the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, after more than a year of debate, and sent it to the states for ratification . Approval by all 13 states was required for
9555-614: The translator was deceiving the convention by distorting the meanings of Paine's words, prompting Paine to provide a copy of the speech as proof that he was being correctly translated. Paine wrote the second part of Rights of Man on a desk in Thomas 'Clio' Rickman 's house, with whom he was staying in 1792 before he fled to France. This desk is currently on display in the People's History Museum in Manchester . Regarded as an ally of
9660-603: The winter of 1776–77 to avoid capture by British forces who were advancing on Philadelphia. Henry Fite's tavern was the largest building in Baltimore at the time and provided a comfortable location of sufficient size for Congress to meet. Its site at the western edge of town was beyond easy reach of the British Royal Navy 's ships should they attempt to sail up the harbor and the Patapsco River to shell
9765-423: Was a clarion call for unity against the corrupt British court, so as to realize America's providential role in providing an asylum for liberty. Written in a direct and lively style, it denounced the decaying despotisms of Europe and pilloried hereditary monarchy as an absurdity. At a time when many still hoped for reconciliation with Britain, Common Sense demonstrated to many the inevitability of separation. Paine
9870-638: Was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society . In 1787, Paine proposed a iron bridge design for crossing the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia. Having little success in acquiring funding, Paine returned to Paris, France seeking investors or other opportunities to implement his, at the time, novel iron bridge design. Because Paine had few friends when arriving in France aside from Lafayette and Jefferson, he continued to correspond heavily with Benjamin Franklin,
9975-590: Was followed by the July 6, 1775 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms , however, which made its success unlikely in London. In August 1775, the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion , and the petition was rejected by the British government; King George had refused to read it before declaring the colonists traitors. The Second Continental Congress convened in May 1775, and most delegates followed John Dickinson in his quest to reconcile with King George. However,
10080-565: Was in recognition of the publishing of his Rights of Man, Part II and the sensation it created within France. Despite his inability to speak French, he was elected to the National Convention , representing the district of Pas-de-Calais . Several weeks after his election to the National Convention, Paine was selected as one of nine deputies to be part of the convention's Constitutional Committee, charged to draft
10185-502: Was moving towards declaring independence from the British Empire in 1776, but many delegates lacked the authority from their home governments to take such drastic action. Advocates of independence moved to have reluctant colonial governments revise instructions to their delegations, or even replace those governments which would not authorize independence. On May 10, 1776, Congress passed a resolution recommending that any colony with
10290-432: Was not on the whole expressing original ideas in Common Sense , but rather employing rhetoric as a means to arouse resentment of the Crown. To achieve these ends, he pioneered a style of political writing suited to the democratic society he envisioned, with Common Sense serving as a primary example. Part of Paine's work was to render complex ideas intelligible to average readers of the day, with clear, concise writing unlike
10395-444: Was passed around and often read aloud in taverns, contributing significantly to spreading the idea of republicanism, bolstering enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army . Paine provided a new and convincing argument for independence by advocating a complete break with history. Common Sense is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an immediate choice. It offers
10500-607: Was preposterous and it had a heathenish origin. It was an institution of the devil. Paine pointed to the Old Testament , where almost all kings had seduced the Israelites to worship idols instead of God. Paine also denounced aristocracy, which together with monarchy were "two ancient tyrannies." They violated the laws of nature, human reason, and the "universal order of things," which began with God. That was, Middlekauff says, exactly what most Americans wanted to hear. He calls
10605-459: Was published in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, and signed anonymously "by an Englishman". It was an immediate success, with Paine estimating it sold 100,000 copies in three months to the two million residents of the 13 colonies. During the course of the American Revolution, one biographer estimated a total of about 500,000 copies were sold, including unauthorized editions. However, some historians dispute these numbers. Paine's original title for
10710-466: Was scandal; together with Paine's conflict with Robert Morris and Silas Deane , it led to Paine's expulsion from the Committee in 1779. However, in 1781, he accompanied John Laurens on his mission to France. Eventually, after much pleading from Paine, New York State recognized his political services by presenting him with an estate at New Rochelle , New York and Paine received money from Pennsylvania and from Congress at Washington's suggestion. During
10815-426: Was sensational in its impact and gave birth to reform societies. An indictment for seditious libel followed, for both publisher and author, while government agents followed Paine and instigated mobs, hate meetings, and burnings in effigy. A fierce pamphlet war also resulted, in which Paine was defended and assailed in dozens of works. The authorities aimed, with ultimate success, to force Paine out of Great Britain. He
10920-731: Was the late 18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War , which established American independence from the British Empire . The Congress constituted a new federation that it first named the United Colonies of North America , and in 1776, renamed the United States of America . The Congress began convening in Philadelphia , on May 10, 1775, with representatives from 12 of
11025-492: Was then tried in absentia and found guilty, but he was beyond the reach of British law. The French translation of Rights of Man, Part II was published in April 1792. The translator, François Lanthenas, eliminated the dedication to Lafayette, as he believed Paine thought too highly of Lafayette, who was seen as a royalist sympathizer at the time. In summer of 1792, he answered the sedition and libel charges thus: "If, to expose
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