Paine’s deep relationship with the Bonnevilles lasted for more than 15 years. This essay studies Paine’s time with the Bonnevilles in Paris during the six years he lived with them, from 1797 to 1802, as Napoleon Bonaparte began his ascent to power and U.S.-France relationships floundered.
The Bonnevilles: Thomas Paine’s “Family” Part One: Read Post »
Imagine Thomas Paine as a “raw and adventurous” youth, scurrying up a ship’s rigging in storm-tossed waters, overwhelmed by the booms of two dozen cannons fired in unison, the clouds of choking smoke, and the violent lurches of a shuddering ship.
Thomas Paine, Privateer Read Post »
historian Yannick Bosc wrote, “Behind the smoke from the censer, there are always sulfurous fumes floating around Thomas Paine.” 200 years of historiographical inquiry still leaves us with too many questions. We can only look forward to the new, impartial, unbiased, and well-researched works that are yet to come.
A History of Thomas Paine’s Biographies Read Post »
Historians are challenged to remain ambivalent when writing about multi-layered Paine. We have Paine the political strategist, the enlightened idealist and utopian, the religious heretic, the economist, the journalist, the inventor, and humanitarian. Paine was vilified, idolized and all in between.
The History of Paine’s Biographies Read Post »
These lines from a children’s song richly capture the infamy that Thomas Paine had fallen into at the time of his death on June 8, 1809 in New Rochelle, New York: “Poor Tom Paine! There he liesNobody laughs and nobody criesWhere he has gone or how he faresNobody knows and nobody cares“ Read the full
Here’s to Tom Paine—the Forgotten Founding Father Read Post »
Even before Paine’s death, his life was being dissected by those around him on both sides of the Atlantic. The earliest “biographies” of Paine were highly critical, politically-motivated smear campaigns funded by political enemies in high places. Each writer set out to debunk Paine’s major works.
The Curious History of Thomas Paine’s Biographies Read Post »
