'Common Sense' anniversary: The life and times of Thomas Paine (Part 3 of 7)

January 10, 5:14 PMPolitical Issues ExaminerJudah Freed

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Thomas Paine

American Times

Out of work and out of love, Paine looked westward to America.

To succeed in the new world, he needed a sponsor. Paine had met Benjamin Franklin in London while lobbying for the excise men, says one account, or perhaps they met at scientific society meetings. However they met, Franklin was impressed enough to write a reserved letter of introduction to his friends in Philadelphia, asking them to help this "ingenious, worthy young man."

In October 1774, at age 37, Paine sailed from England and landed in Philadelphia on November 30. Franklin's letters led to work in journalism as an editor and contributor to Robert Aitken's Pennsylvania Magazine, a relationship that endured for years until they parted angrily over a pay dispute.

For Pennsylvania, Paine specialized in the latest inventions and new technologies, yet he covered diverse subjects. Social issues interested him the most. Paine first called for the humane treatment of animals then he urged equal civil rights for women (but not yet suffrage). In an article published on March 8, 1775, he advocated the abolition of slavery. On April 14, 1775, he helped found one of the first abolitionist societies in America.

Encouraged by Ben Franklin and Dr. Benjamin Rush to voice the emerging sentiments about the rebellion against the king that had begun on April 19, 1775, before at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. Heeding their call, in late 1775 Paine began writing Common Sense.

Published anonymously in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, Common Sense was divided into four sections. Part I examined the nature of civil government to exposed absurdities and perils in English democracy. Part II refuted the divine rights of kings and hereditary succession. Part III argued against colonists reconciling with the English king, saying a distant island should not rule a continent. Part IV offered rational hope and a caible plan for the Americans to win their revolutionary war of independence.

Paine's called for an immediate declaration of independence from the British crown as a timely, practical measure that would unite the colonies, secure French and Spanish military and economic aid, and fulfill America's moral duty as a nation of free people. Once the war was won, he laid out a plan for wring a constitution for the new country, creating a government without any king in charge.

Paine convincingly argued that if the colonies would liberate themselves from the crown and declare a free republic under natural law, reflecting nature's God, America's shining example would enlighten the world.

Historians note that the "founding fathers" closely followed Paine's blueprint. Independence was declared by the Continental Congress less than seven months later on July 4, 1776. Help from Spain and especially France was crucial for the final victory in 1781, after which a constitution for the new republic was drafted by 1787 with the new democratically elected government seated in 1789.

Back in 1776, however, Paine likely discussed the ideas in Common Sense with others, but the writing was his own, published at his own risk through the good graces of printer R. Bell on Third Street. After word spread that Thomas Paine had authored Common Sense, the second edition published on February 14 bore his byline. Aitken also published an edition of the pamphlet, which is why many thousands of copies were printed quickly and distributed widely.

Priced at two shillings ($10 today), the 47-page pamphlet sold 125,000 copies in three months, reaching almost 500,000 lifetime sales. The 13 colonies then held about 2.5 million people, so the essay's "market penetration" is impressive. It was a case of the right book at the right time. Paine donated most of his proceeds to the rebel army.

Not everyone fell in love with Paine's ideas, though. Attacked by monarchy loyalists like William Smith, Paine anonymously defended himself and his essay under the name of "Forester" in Pennsylvania Magazine. The collected "Forester Letters" offer a rare look into Paine's reasoning and zeal.

As war heated up, Paine enlisted in the American army before its retreat across New Jersey, serving as an aide to a general under George Washington. As the war dragged on, public support faded while the dwindling rebel troops froze in Valley Forge. The Revolution might not last through the winter.

Visiting Valley Forge, Paine sat alone in the cold, leaning over a drumhead (according to the legend), writing the first in a series of essays called, The American Crisis. He began with the immortal words, "These are the times that try men's souls." First published on December 18, 1776, in the Pennsylvania Magazine, the essay was republished four days later as a pamphlet.

Paine's second pamphlet was read aloud before every army campfire and beside the hearth in many homes. The pamphlet again galvanized public support for the Revolution. A series of eleven more Crisis papers (plus four special editions) were published during the war. Topics ranged from stopping the Tories helping the British to the need for federal and state taxes to fund the war effort.

Paine was rewarded for his literary efforts. In April 1777, Congress appointed him as secretary of its foreign affairs committee, which included Indian Affairs. Some have criticized his role in the western frontier policy toward Native Americans, which largely sided with the English in trade for promises of territorial security.

In the Beaumarchais war supplies scandal, Paine sabotaged his secure government job by publishing confidential documents that apparently proved France had supplied American rebels despite its accord with England. Historians have since contended these documents were misleading, that Paine was hoping to induce the French into helping the American war effort by making it appear like they already were helping.

Regardless of his motives, Paine was forced to resign his post by political pressure. Some assert Paine was next hired by the French at £1000 per year to write anonymous articles favoring France in American newspapers. The evidence for this is sketchy, but if true, the job did not last long.

In November 1779. Pennsylvania appointed Paine as clerk of the state assembly. He contributed $500 of his $1700 annual salary to a fund for relieving Washington's weary army. In 1780, to oppose Virginia's claims on western lands, he wrote and published the pamphlet, Public Good, expanding on the themes in Common Sense. 

Paine gave up the clerk's job in 1781 to join John Laurens on a trip to France to raise more military support funds, returning with much-needed army stores. Paine was not paid for foreign service, but his expenses for travel were covered.

When independence and peace was won in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, Thomas Paine again was a poor man. Compensating a hero of the Revolution, the Continental Congress voted to give Paine £3000 as thanks, Pennsylvania gave him £500. New York gave him a confiscated Tory farm in New Rochelle.

Yet Paine was not a farmer. Once again he was looking for his place in the world.

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