Professor’s Classroom
Subject: American History
Tomorrow is President’s Day, a day set aside to celebrate of several of our most influential people. We Americans seem to want to celebrate those people that history says we owe some admiration for, for their deeds, words, etc. But the one person that has done more in the early years of the Republic gets NO admiration or respect or acknowledgment.
Let us look at George Washington—our first president and general of the Continental Army…..but he may not have even been a footnote if not for Thomas Paine…it was he that urged the Continental Congress to appoint Washington as the commanding general of the ragtag army. Then if he had not been the general of the army then it is feasible that he would probably not been the first president.
The DoI was the direct result of his ideas…think not? Then read the DoI and then read Common Sense….the DoI is a condensed version of the pamphlet. Jefferson may have hand written the DoI but the ideas were Paine’s and Paine’s alone. Jefferson did not have the passion of an idealist, Paine did and ALL of his works and writings prove this out.
The issue of slavery—- it was Paine’s anti-slavery writing of “African Slavery In America” in 1775 that lead to the FIRST anti-slavery association called ” The Society for Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully Held in Bondage”. It was founded in April 1775 in Philadelphia in the Sun Tavern on Second Street. It can be said that Thomas Paine was the Father of the Abolitionist Movement and the first person in America to speak out publicly against the despicable practice of slavery. But yet we celebrate Abraham Lincoln as the great savior of those held in bondage.
Paine also spoke out for justice for women, making him one of the first American feminist, he also championed an “old age” pension of American citizens and the education of all citizens especially the poor and he also called for a “Great Republic of All Nations” of the world, which could be the very concept of the UN.
And let us not forget, he , Paine, was the first person to call for a declaration of independence and he was the very FIRST person to use the term, United States of America. As well as his pamphlet “Common Sense” turned the population into a radical band of revolutionaries that demanded independence from Mother England.
With ALL these accomplishments, Thomas Paine has been ignored by American historians, which is a sad indictment of the reactionary attitudes of people that read the histories.
If there is ANYONE in American History that deserves a holiday or even a little recognition it is Thomas Paine…..who, by his very nature, made the “revolution” possible as well as a wealth of other things that can be attributed to him.. je has been ignored mainly because of the assertion that he was an atheist, which is one of history’s biggest lies like the lie the church has propagated for centuries that Mary Magdaline was a whore…..both are outrageous LIES….Paine was not an atheist he was a deist, he believed in God just not the trappings that organized religion would have us believe…..we as a country owe way too much to Paine and we have given him NOTHING in return……that is a pathetic indictment of the country….
What a good post! The ignoring of Paine does clearly highlight the attitude of the “utterly unholy” alliance money has with the church.
Nothing has changed from the old ENGLISH principle where the Local Landowner would, say of “the people” to the parson, “Just do your job and we’ll be OK. I’ll keep ’em poor, YOU keep ’em ignorant!”
Slavery is alive and flourishing in the shape of those same old sanctimonious twins – Debt and Ignorance.
Until we manage to strip money of its political power and leave it to concentrate on its own narcissistic greed and (whatever each person may or may not individually believe about God – a personal choice) relegate ALL the stupid, know-nothing organised religions to their rightful place in the murky depths of magic and mythology, no ordinary citizen anywhere in the world will ever have a snowball’s chance in hell of being truly free through properly enlightened education and independence.
You are so right…….the entire world is a slave to debt and wages….and as you have guessed by now I an truly impressed with Paine and his writings…..thanx I will be posting a lot about Paine….maybe it will help him get the recognition he deserves…..
It all sounds good but how is everything related together?
Excellent post. Thank you.
I think I’ll spend some time today reading Common Sense — available online in its entirety:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Common_Sense
Thanx Clint…glad you like the post ….Paine has been an inspiration to me since I was 14….he helped me form my political principles…..I have my original copy of Common sense…I still read it often…….
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Gregory thanx for stopping by hope to see you often……
A July 4th Story
The Fourth of July, 1776, would not have witnessed the Declaration of Independence but for the timely appearance of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” no candid student of history will for a moment question. This book first suggested American Independence; in it for the first time “The Free and Independent States of America” was mentioned.
Also Paine was the inspiring genius of the long war that followed. When Washington’s little army was hurled from Long Island, when despondency filled every heart, and all seemed lost, Paine came to the rescue with the the first of his “The Crises,” series publications which were couched with those thrilling words. “These are the times that try men’s souls.” This stirring pamphlet, by orders of General Washington, was read at the head of each regiment. The effect was magical; into the dispirited ranks it breathed new life planting a determination never to give up the struggle. And at critical periods during the war further issues of “The Crises” appeared giving continuing reasons to hope for a successful outcome. With a successful conclusion of the war Paine triumphantly said in the last issue; “The times that tried men’s souls are over, and the greatest and completest revolution the world ever knew, gloriously and happily accomplished.”
So, the July 4th story should include Thomas Paine for giving and supporting through passionate writing the reasons for seceding and fathering the revolution from start to finish.
Because of his religious beliefs he has been eliminated from American history…he also donated much of his wealth to the Continental army for some supplies when none others would…he is the true “Father of this country”….the others were nothing but opportunists looking for a cash read in the end….with me Paine lives on but I am alone in my writings and my praise….I know I am right.