Coggeh
19th November 2009, 17:57
Short Essay I had to do for a History class, its supposed to be unbias but meh . Wanted to see what people think of it and hoped it would bring up some discussion I suppose on ...stuff . Anyway Enjoy :
Thomas Paine was one of the most if not the most influential British writer in the course of history. Many know of his involvement in the French and American revolutions and this has led him to been ranked in the top 100 Britons of all time but few knew of his radical ideas on forms of government, property ownership, heredity and religion. Thomas Paine outlined his ideas in many different books such as: The Rights of Man, The Age of Reason and Common Sense.
His ideas had been shaped from his early life in England where he fought on many occasions for different demands , one being his struggle for better pay and conditions for excise officers, it was during this struggle that he wrote his first political work, this being a 21 paged pamphlet which he distributed to people around London and to parliament itself in an attempt to gain support for the excise officers. Unfortunetly this was to be his last political move in England before he emigrated to America under invitation of Benjamin Franklin .It was in America where he wrote his most influential of works at that time: Common Sense. In this he outlined his ideas about the situation in America, he wrote in support of an Independent democratic America with an end to monarchic rule and also support out against the hereditary line of kings that ruled Europe notably stating: “It’s as absurd as a hereditary mathematician”. He supported annual elections of leaders , and the setting up of a republic. All these don’t seem like radical ideas but for their time and also the fact that Paine did not write in the traditional way which was mostly unintelligible to the majority of people but in a way that was accessible to ordinary people. This led his first book to be hugely popular selling over 150,000 copies in a country where the population was just three million. He became very popular with other leaders of the American revolution but soon ran into huge disagreements with them, he wrote numourous articles condemning slavery and Christians who supported it, he publicly critcised George Washington who owned slaves.Paine felt that after the revolution the leaders of the country who once done away with the king now wanted to preserve the status quo, he grew in contention again with many leaders of the Revolution from his sympathy to the rights of Native Americans .The lessons he had learned during the American Revolution and after it were ones that would influence him to be more questioning and produce more radical ideas in his next major work: The Rights of Man.
The Rights of Man was written in the context of a reply to Edmund Burke’s: Reflections on The Revolution in France; which condemned the revolution in France that abolished the monarchy refering to it as “unnatural” this infuriated Paine to a degree that after reading he spent every hour awake writing his reply which was little over 150 pages .He outlined the advantages of a democratic republic in Britain rather than a rule by monarchy, he used the rest of the book to explain why people like Burke hated revolutions stating:”That which is a blessing to nations, is a bitterness to them; as their existence depends on the duplicity of a country, they tremble at the approach of principles, and dread the precedent that threathens their overthrow”.After the rights of man became a success in Britain selling over 20,000 copies almost immediately he wrote a second part to the book more to do with wealth distribution he stated: “The Duke of Richmond alone takes away as much for himself which would maintain 2,000 poor or aging people”.He proposed the money saved from the abolishment the of royalty could pay for the worlds first welfare state, he advocated pensions for anyone aged 50 and over and the first national state education system.The second part of the book became a bestseller, selling over 100,000 copies because of it intellectual access to the low classes but also because it was so incredibly cheap that virtually anyone could afford it.
His writing style uspet many authors who saw writing as an act of class and should be only available to those with education, Issac Hunt described Paines writing style as: “ vulgar and rustic, seducing his illiterate and unskilled readers”.After Paine was banned from publishing his works in England he fled to France where he was imprisoned by the Jacobins for not supporting the execution of the king after saying the problem wasn’t one family of royalty but the whole system of royalty and thus was in turn sentenced to execution himself, he narrowly escaped execution and after the Jacobins were overthrown he was released.During his stay in prison however he began his 3rd major work: The Age of Reason.
For Paine the major enemy of reason was organised religion and so in this book he outlined the contradictions of religions and most prominently the contradictions in the bible. Paine was not an athiest but a deist and argued for the idea of a creator god and deplored the idea of a tyrannical god set out in the old Testament; he wrote in the Age of Reason: "people in general know not how much wickedness there is in this pretended word of God." Citing verses 31:13–47 as an example, in which Moses orders the slaughter of thousands of boys and women, and sanctions the rape of thousands of girls, at God's behest.Paine calls the Bible a "book of lies, wickedness, and blasphemy; for what can be greater blasphemy than to ascribe the wickedness of man to the orders of the Almighty!" This led to a revival of religious anti-church deism in America but was received in Britain with much greater hostility.Paine not only outlined his anti biblical views but also outlined his views on securlism and the relationship of church and state, he attacked the Christian view of god stating :"the Christian theory is little else than the idolatry of the ancient Mythologists, accommodated to the purposes of power and revenue." This kind of attack distinguishes Paine's book from other deistic works, which were less interested in challenging social and political hierarchies.He argues that the Church and the State are a single corrupt institution which does not act in the best interests of the people—both must be radically altered: “The adulterous connection of Church and State, wherever it has taken place . . . has so effectually prohibited by pains and penalties every discussion upon established creeds, and upon first principles of religion, that until the system of government should be changed, those subjects could not be brought fairly and openly before the world; but that whenever this should be done, a revolution in the system of religion would follow. He ideas resemble a growing progressive view of the time that religious views and the laws of the state should never mix, that they should be separate.
Paines radical ideas have been overshadowed throughout mainstream thought on history replaced by the views of the major leaders of the American Revolution, however these views were so distant that the last words of Thomas Paine to George Washington written in a letter said :”As to you. Sir. The world will be puzzled as to whether you abandoned your principles or whether you had any in the first place”.Paines radical ideas influenced and inspired millions to question the views of society such as the rule of kings, the role of religion, and the inequalities in society. His influence on the events in America, Britain and French although not exactly known can never be underestimated.
Thomas Paine was one of the most if not the most influential British writer in the course of history. Many know of his involvement in the French and American revolutions and this has led him to been ranked in the top 100 Britons of all time but few knew of his radical ideas on forms of government, property ownership, heredity and religion. Thomas Paine outlined his ideas in many different books such as: The Rights of Man, The Age of Reason and Common Sense.
His ideas had been shaped from his early life in England where he fought on many occasions for different demands , one being his struggle for better pay and conditions for excise officers, it was during this struggle that he wrote his first political work, this being a 21 paged pamphlet which he distributed to people around London and to parliament itself in an attempt to gain support for the excise officers. Unfortunetly this was to be his last political move in England before he emigrated to America under invitation of Benjamin Franklin .It was in America where he wrote his most influential of works at that time: Common Sense. In this he outlined his ideas about the situation in America, he wrote in support of an Independent democratic America with an end to monarchic rule and also support out against the hereditary line of kings that ruled Europe notably stating: “It’s as absurd as a hereditary mathematician”. He supported annual elections of leaders , and the setting up of a republic. All these don’t seem like radical ideas but for their time and also the fact that Paine did not write in the traditional way which was mostly unintelligible to the majority of people but in a way that was accessible to ordinary people. This led his first book to be hugely popular selling over 150,000 copies in a country where the population was just three million. He became very popular with other leaders of the American revolution but soon ran into huge disagreements with them, he wrote numourous articles condemning slavery and Christians who supported it, he publicly critcised George Washington who owned slaves.Paine felt that after the revolution the leaders of the country who once done away with the king now wanted to preserve the status quo, he grew in contention again with many leaders of the Revolution from his sympathy to the rights of Native Americans .The lessons he had learned during the American Revolution and after it were ones that would influence him to be more questioning and produce more radical ideas in his next major work: The Rights of Man.
The Rights of Man was written in the context of a reply to Edmund Burke’s: Reflections on The Revolution in France; which condemned the revolution in France that abolished the monarchy refering to it as “unnatural” this infuriated Paine to a degree that after reading he spent every hour awake writing his reply which was little over 150 pages .He outlined the advantages of a democratic republic in Britain rather than a rule by monarchy, he used the rest of the book to explain why people like Burke hated revolutions stating:”That which is a blessing to nations, is a bitterness to them; as their existence depends on the duplicity of a country, they tremble at the approach of principles, and dread the precedent that threathens their overthrow”.After the rights of man became a success in Britain selling over 20,000 copies almost immediately he wrote a second part to the book more to do with wealth distribution he stated: “The Duke of Richmond alone takes away as much for himself which would maintain 2,000 poor or aging people”.He proposed the money saved from the abolishment the of royalty could pay for the worlds first welfare state, he advocated pensions for anyone aged 50 and over and the first national state education system.The second part of the book became a bestseller, selling over 100,000 copies because of it intellectual access to the low classes but also because it was so incredibly cheap that virtually anyone could afford it.
His writing style uspet many authors who saw writing as an act of class and should be only available to those with education, Issac Hunt described Paines writing style as: “ vulgar and rustic, seducing his illiterate and unskilled readers”.After Paine was banned from publishing his works in England he fled to France where he was imprisoned by the Jacobins for not supporting the execution of the king after saying the problem wasn’t one family of royalty but the whole system of royalty and thus was in turn sentenced to execution himself, he narrowly escaped execution and after the Jacobins were overthrown he was released.During his stay in prison however he began his 3rd major work: The Age of Reason.
For Paine the major enemy of reason was organised religion and so in this book he outlined the contradictions of religions and most prominently the contradictions in the bible. Paine was not an athiest but a deist and argued for the idea of a creator god and deplored the idea of a tyrannical god set out in the old Testament; he wrote in the Age of Reason: "people in general know not how much wickedness there is in this pretended word of God." Citing verses 31:13–47 as an example, in which Moses orders the slaughter of thousands of boys and women, and sanctions the rape of thousands of girls, at God's behest.Paine calls the Bible a "book of lies, wickedness, and blasphemy; for what can be greater blasphemy than to ascribe the wickedness of man to the orders of the Almighty!" This led to a revival of religious anti-church deism in America but was received in Britain with much greater hostility.Paine not only outlined his anti biblical views but also outlined his views on securlism and the relationship of church and state, he attacked the Christian view of god stating :"the Christian theory is little else than the idolatry of the ancient Mythologists, accommodated to the purposes of power and revenue." This kind of attack distinguishes Paine's book from other deistic works, which were less interested in challenging social and political hierarchies.He argues that the Church and the State are a single corrupt institution which does not act in the best interests of the people—both must be radically altered: “The adulterous connection of Church and State, wherever it has taken place . . . has so effectually prohibited by pains and penalties every discussion upon established creeds, and upon first principles of religion, that until the system of government should be changed, those subjects could not be brought fairly and openly before the world; but that whenever this should be done, a revolution in the system of religion would follow. He ideas resemble a growing progressive view of the time that religious views and the laws of the state should never mix, that they should be separate.
Paines radical ideas have been overshadowed throughout mainstream thought on history replaced by the views of the major leaders of the American Revolution, however these views were so distant that the last words of Thomas Paine to George Washington written in a letter said :”As to you. Sir. The world will be puzzled as to whether you abandoned your principles or whether you had any in the first place”.Paines radical ideas influenced and inspired millions to question the views of society such as the rule of kings, the role of religion, and the inequalities in society. His influence on the events in America, Britain and French although not exactly known can never be underestimated.