Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (Signet Classics)
by Thomas Paine
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In January 1776, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called Common Sense, which electrified the American colonies. Paine demanded freedom from Britain when even fervent patriots were revolting only against excessive taxation. His daring prose spurred passage of the Declaration of Independence. The Crisis, written when Paine was a soldier during the Continental Army's bleakest days, begins with the world-famous line "These are the times that try men's souls." His call for perseverance and show more fortitude prevented Washington's army from disintegrating. Later, Paine's impassioned defense of the French Revolution, Rights of Man, caused an immediate sensation, but got him into deep trouble with the French ruling classes. Together in one volume, Common Sense, Rights of Man, and major selections from The Crisis, The Age of Reason, and Agrarian Justice represent the key works of one of the world's most eloquent proponents of democracy -- the man who has been justly hailed as the "English Voltaire." show lessTags
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An excellent book. The foundations of the American political structure and two hundred years later a call to come back to basics. A call to expose how America is edging closer to ALL things that it set out NOT to be. More than a voice of the past but a herald, like a prophet in the desert, saying"You have strayed away from something that was so clearly laid out for you, Come back." Come back NOT to a system of the wealthiest man or woman dominates the poor but one where ALL MEN AND WOMEN are equal in the eyes of the law and are allowed to seek out what it is that makes them happy and prosperous.Come back not to a time where one set of religious moralities dominates outside of said religious institutions but one where one is FREE to show more practice their own religion WITHOUT fear that another religious code would be made lawCome back to a time where Kings, Queens, Generals, members of a Aristocracy or Corporation did not and could not Rule over the lives of the common man and give cause and make law for doing so.When you read through you might think as I did, "Things of 200 years ago are still going on today. Have we made any progress? Yes some here, some there, but when it comes to the basics: If we knew what we were trying to get away from, trying to avoid. Why then is it still here?" show less
Surprisingly easy read, very interesting from this side of history. Hard to imagine even the need for this, but definite reminder of why America needed to do as she did. Glad I took the time.
One of the great minds of the revolution. Paine argues for the basic freedoms we as a country, now enjoy.
Gifted writer. Makes excellent points. A must-read for history students.
Great book that contains the most famous pamphlets written by Thomas Paine. Paine was one of the greatest men in American History. The ideas of Thomas Paine are the foundation of what America is all about. He provided the basic principles that were later put into the Declaration of Independence. He was the greatest of all our Founding Fathers.
Wow. Genius!
For such an inspirational great man, I found the Editor/Author very confused and Paine himself not as inspiring to modern standards as he was to our for-fathers, as I had hoped.
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Born to parents with Quaker leanings, Thomas Paine grew up amid modest circumstances in the rural environs of Thetford, England. As the recipient of what he termed "a good moral education and a tolerable stock of useful learning," little in Paine's early years seemed to suggest that he would one day rise to a stunning defense of American show more independence in such passionate and compelling works as Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis essays (1776-83). Paine's early years were characterized by a constant struggle to remain financially solvent while pursuing a number of nonintellectual activities. Nevertheless, the young Paine read such Enlightenment theorists as Isaac Newton and John Locke and remained dedicated to the idea that education was a lifelong commitment. From 1753 to 1759, Paine worked alternately as a sailor, a staymaker, and a customs officer. Between 1759 and 1772, he married twice. His first wife died within a year of their marriage, and Paine separated amicably from his second wife after a shop they operated together went bankrupt. While these circumstances seemed gloomy, Paine fortuitously made the acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin in London in 1773. Impressed by Paine's self-education, Franklin encouraged the young man to venture to America where he might prosper. Arriving in Philadelphia in 1774, Paine quickly found himself energized by the volatile nature of Revolutionary politics. Working as an editor of Pennsylvania Magazine, Paine found a forum for his passionate radical views. In the years that followed, Paine became increasingly committed to American independence, and to his conviction that the elitist and corrupt government that had ruled over him in England had little business extending its corrosive colonial power to the States. Moved by these beliefs, Paine published Common Sense (1776), a test that proved invaluable in unifying American sentiment against British rule. Later, after joining the fray as a soldier, Paine penned the familiar lines in "The American Crisis": "These are the times that try men's souls." Fifteen years later, Paine wrote his other famous work, Rights of Man (1791). Drawing on his eclectic experiences as a laborer, an international radical politician, and a revolutionary soldier, Paine asserted his Lockeian belief that since God created humans in "one degree only," then rights should be equal for every individual. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- The Essential Thomas Paine
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- Thomas Paine
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- Politics and Government, Nonfiction, Philosophy, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 320.011 — Society, government, & culture Political science Types of Government Political Science Philosophy and Theory Systems
- LCC
- JC177 .A5 — Political Science Political theory Political theory. The state. Theories of the state Modern state Thomas Paine
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- (4.02)
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- English
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- 22
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- 12