Thomas Paine Could Be a Pain

 

  The pen is mightier than the sword they say. But if someone was coming at me with a sword, I'd rather have a sword myself than a pen.  Throughout history, the pen has incited people to pick up swords and go to war. Uncle Tom's Cabin revealed the horrors of slavery to Northerners and made Southerners eager to leave the Union before they were forced to give up their slaves.

  A forty-seven page pamphlet titled Common Sense inspired American colonists to go to war against the Mother Country, a prospect that would normally have inspired a person with common sense to say, let's talk this over. Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, led an interesting life. He was nearly hanged in his native England, and later came close to being guillotined during the French Terror, only escaping due to a clerical error. 

  He was born in Thetford, England on this day in 1737 and baptized Thomas Pain.  No one knows how he picked up the 'e'. After a few years of schooling, he became an apprentice in his father's corset shop. He was a sailor for awhile and a school teacher for another while. His first wife died in childbirth, his second wife left him after their grocery business collapsed.  He got a position as a tax collector, but was constantly in trouble for not taking care of business.

  Paine's true passion was the rights of man. His father had been a Quaker and Paine himself had settled in Lewes, England, a town known for its anti-monarchical sentiments. In 1774 Paine met Benjamin Franklin who was in London to complain about the taxes England had imposed on the American colonies. Franklin saw something in Paine and encouraged him to emigrate to Philadelphia. Paine found work as editor of a new magazine.

  The magazine was not supposed to talk politics, but that's all Paine cared about. The magazine was a big success so the publisher didn't complain. In January, 1776 Paine published his famous pamphlet. It eventually sold half a million copies which is incredible considering the population of the thirteen colonies was only two million. The battles of Lexington and Concord, and Bunker Hill had already taken place, but many in America thought there could still be a reconciliation with England. Not after Common Sense hit the streets.

  The Founding Fathers spoke in elevated tones about independence. Common Sense spoke the language of the common man. It was basically an attack on the tyranny of George III and the absurdity of the monarchy. The leaders of the Revolution had to take account of Paine, though they distrusted his call for the vote for all men. He was soon in trouble with these leading men, most of whom were wealthy. Most of us usually can't see the forest for the trees. Paine was the opposite. His forest was the rights of man and anyone in the way had to go. Some of the leading men were profiting from the war and Paine was happy to expose that to the world.

  After the war Paine returned to England. The French Revolution had started and Paine wrote a pamphlet called the Rights of Man. This one sold a million copies. The pamphlet attacked monarchy.  The government was worried that the French Revolution might spread into England and tried to arrest Paine, but he escaped to France. They loved him in France and made him part of the government. Again he made enemies and ended up in prison. Paine's French wasn't very good and he didn't realize he was on the list to be guillotined. Those on the list had a chalk mark placed on their door and the next morning the guillotine man came and took those unfortunates to the place of execution.  Luckily for Paine, the chalk mark had been mistakenly placed on the inside of his door.  By the time this error was discovered, Paine's enemy had been forced into exile and Paine was released.

  Back in America Paine attacked George Washington for not helping him when he was in prison in France. Washington was looked upon as a god by most Americans so Paine lost many of his fans. He lost the rest by attacking Christianity. He believed in God but said religion was bad for the freedom of the people. At Paine's funeral in 1809 there were only six mourners. Two were a woman and her son who he had saved from poverty. Two others were black men. Paine was an outspoken abolitionist. 

  After Paine's burial, a friend dug him up and returned his bones to his native England. Somewhere along the line the bones went missing, which I think is appropriate. The spirit of Tom Paine roams the world. There is much yet to do.

There's is nothing more uncommon than common sense. -Frank Lloyd Wright