Thomas Paine Historical Association, Author at https://thomaspaine.org/author/thomas-paine-historical-association/ Educating the world about the life, works, and legacy of Thomas Paine Thu, 05 Mar 2026 19:52:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://thomaspaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cropped-favicon-150x150.jpg Thomas Paine Historical Association, Author at https://thomaspaine.org/author/thomas-paine-historical-association/ 32 32 Why isn’t Paine recognized as a leading figure of the American Revolution? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/why-isnt-paine-recognized-as-a-leading-figure-of-the-american-revolution/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/why-isnt-paine-recognized-as-a-leading-figure-of-the-american-revolution/ Like most topics in American history, there are two camps of historians. One group, which has emerged since the 1960’s, recognizes Paine as the preeminent Founder. As the 200 years of institutional neglect of Paine has lost its hold on scholarship, many historians and authors are correcting the record and bringing Paine to the forefront. […]

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]]> Like most topics in American history, there are two camps of historians. One group, which has emerged since the 1960’s, recognizes Paine as the preeminent Founder. As the 200 years of institutional neglect of Paine has lost its hold on scholarship, many historians and authors are correcting the record and bringing Paine to the forefront. However a large, established group of historians, in the old mold of idolizing the Federalists at the expense of the democratic wing of the Revolution, still hold sway over much of historical analysis. One reason for this is the repetition of faulty historicity from early biographies of Paine, biographies that were written by political enemies of Paine, and by paid agents of the British royalty. Modern biographies still reflect the “false facts” from those early misinformation campaigns. Most accounts of the Revolution minimize Paine’s crucial role, something our Association hopes to correct.

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]]> Was Thomas Paine a “failure” before coming to America? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/was-thomas-paine-a-failure-before-coming-to-america/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/was-thomas-paine-a-failure-before-coming-to-america/ Far from it. Paine had several occupations, most notably as an excise officer. However his abilities were used far beyond that position. For example, he was the only Councilman to serve in Lewes, England (an important commerce and redistribution center) for 6 straight years. This required political connections with the Whigs who controlled that area […]

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]]> Far from it. Paine had several occupations, most notably as an excise officer. However his abilities were used far beyond that position. For example, he was the only Councilman to serve in Lewes, England (an important commerce and redistribution center) for 6 straight years. This required political connections with the Whigs who controlled that area of southern England. He also had friends in the Whig aristocracy who would later provide boarding for him on his return to England in 1787. So he was hardly a failure. He was dismissed as an excise officer after leading their movement for labor rights, the price for standing up on principle which he continued throughout his life. These assertions of “failure” come from the same sources as many invented slanders, like drinking or being unkempt. And they are passed down by many writers and historians without real investigation. Unfortunately, the progressive supporters of Paine had a hand in this disinformation – Howard Fast’s Citizen Paine embraced the negative characterizations of Paine in an attempt to make him a working class hero. Recent research has shown that Paine was very well connected to the leading Whigs in the 1760s, and this is where he learned his craft of writing, with many essays being written by him in collaboration with these same Whigs.

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]]> Was Thomas Paine a disheveled drunk? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/was-thomas-paine-a-disheveled-drunk/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/was-thomas-paine-a-disheveled-drunk/ No. Again, most of the "biographies" and myths about Paine originate from the early slander campaign by the British royalty and the Federalists, and that is where this myth started. Paine resided with the most prosperous, gentile people of his day, including Lords. They all praise his habits, temperment, and politeness. WJ Linton in a […]

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]]> No. Again, most of the "biographies" and myths about Paine originate from the early slander campaign by the British royalty and the Federalists, and that is where this myth started. Paine resided with the most prosperous, gentile people of his day, including Lords. They all praise his habits, temperment, and politeness. WJ Linton in a letter to the editor of Scribner's Monthly wrote:

"For his brandy-bibbing there is as little warrant as for the atheism. I have before me a letter of his, to a friend intending to visit him (it is dated some years later than the bar-room period, but there is no record of any variation in his habits), in which he says:

"When you come you must take such fare as you meet with, for I live upon tea, milk, fruit, pies, plain dumplings, and a piece of meat when I get it; but I live with that retirement and quiet that suits me."

See WJ Linton on Paine's Habits. The myths about Paine were bolstered by Howard Fast's "Citizen Paine", who took these false slanders and embraced them as the model of a working-class hero. Unfortunately he solidified the anti-Paine propaganda by doing so, leaving many people with the impression that the misinformation might be true. It isn't.

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]]> Was Paine the real author of the Declaration of Independence? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/was-paine-the-real-author-of-the-declaration-of-independence/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/was-paine-the-real-author-of-the-declaration-of-independence/ No. Several authors have made a case for Paine being the author, but the mainstream of historians have dismissed it. What can be said is that Common Sense prepared the framework and indeed much of the specific language of the Declaration. Common Sense spurred most states, cities, towns and counties to write their own Declarations […]

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]]> No. Several authors have made a case for Paine being the author, but the mainstream of historians have dismissed it. What can be said is that Common Sense prepared the framework and indeed much of the specific language of the Declaration. Common Sense spurred most states, cities, towns and counties to write their own Declarations in the spring of 1776 using language contained in it. From that fact alone, we regard Common Sense as the founding document of the United States. (See Thomas Paine and the Declaration of Independence under About Paine/ Articles). HOWEVER, a recent discovery of a document places Paine in the room for its creation, with a position of authority. See The Truth Seeker (Sept. 2019) article on this document and its significance.

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]]> Was Paine present at the Constitutional Convention in 1787? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/was-paine-present-at-the-constitutional-convention-in-1787/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/was-paine-present-at-the-constitutional-convention-in-1787/ No. He left for Europe two months before the Convention began, but he was not invited. His democratic views of government would have put him in conflict with most of the convention members, the wealthiest men in America.

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]]> No. He left for Europe two months before the Convention began, but he was not invited. His democratic views of government would have put him in conflict with most of the convention members, the wealthiest men in America.

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]]> Was Paine in favor of a redistribution of wealth? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/was-paine-in-favor-of-a-redistribution-of-wealth/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/was-paine-in-favor-of-a-redistribution-of-wealth/ Not only was he in favor of it, but the concept in modern times originates with him. Even in his early writings he makes reference to it, but in Rights of Man and Agrarian Justice it becomes a central tenet in his philosophy of government. Paine says that no one should live in a condition […]

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]]> Not only was he in favor of it, but the concept in modern times originates with him. Even in his early writings he makes reference to it, but in Rights of Man and Agrarian Justice it becomes a central tenet in his philosophy of government. Paine says that no one should live in a condition worse to that of life before civilization. Any one who does, (the poor, the infirm, the aged, the young starting out) must be compensated by the government for the loss of their natural right to the wealth of the land. He believed that wealth has been seized by the landlord and merchants classes from the classes that produce it (the mechanics and farmers). A progressive tax to redistribute that wealth was his solution.

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]]> Is it true that Thomas Paine first coined the phrase, “The United States of America?” https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/is-it-true-that-thomas-paine-first-coined-the-phrase-the-united-states-of-america/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/is-it-true-that-thomas-paine-first-coined-the-phrase-the-united-states-of-america/ Yes. Previously it was claimed that American Crisis III was the source of this name. There are at least two private letters who use the language “united States of America”, but they use “united” (small “U”) as an adjective. However, writing as “Republicus” on June 29, 1776 Paine made the first public declaration calling for […]

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]]> Yes. Previously it was claimed that American Crisis III was the source of this name. There are at least two private letters who use the language “united States of America”, but they use “united” (small “U”) as an adjective. However, writing as “Republicus” on June 29, 1776 Paine made the first public declaration calling for the country to be named the “United States of America”, which he already knew would appear on the Declaration of Independence soon to be released.

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]]> Does Thomas Paine have any descendants? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/does-thomas-paine-have-any-descendants/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/does-thomas-paine-have-any-descendants/ No. Paine was an only child, and he never had children (that survived). There have been several claims or beliefs from people thinking they are descendants because of similar names, or family mythologies. But none have borne out. The claims center around three possibilities (all of which have been proven false): first, that from Paine’s […]

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]]> No. Paine was an only child, and he never had children (that survived). There have been several claims or beliefs from people thinking they are descendants because of similar names, or family mythologies. But none have borne out.

The claims center around three possibilities (all of which have been proven false): first, that from Paine’s first wife, who died in childbirth, the child lived – but records show otherwise: both she and the child died; second, that Paine had siblings from his father’s side, but no proof of that has been established. Even if established that would not be direct descendancy; and third, that Thomas Bonneville, the son of Madame Bonneville and her husband and comrade of Paine, Nicholas, was instead Paine’s son – but Madame Bonneville filed suit against the author of that (an early biography written to slander Paine) and won based on court evidence close to that time period.

Other claims come from a confusion of the name Paine, some confusing Robert Treat Paine with him, who was, instead, not only unrelated, but a political enemy. However, there are probably hundreds of thousands of very distant cousins, as his aunts or uncles would have produced children. So family mythologies are probably based on that.

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]]> Did Thomas Paine support the U.S. Constitution? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/did-thomas-paine-support-the-u-s-constitution/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/did-thomas-paine-support-the-u-s-constitution/ He favored the idea of the Constitution to establish the government (it was his idea in 1783), but he strongly argued against the conservative and elitist nature of it. He attacked two major areas: a single executive, and a two-body legislature, one being smaller and more powerful than the other. He favored only a representative […]

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]]> He favored the idea of the Constitution to establish the government (it was his idea in 1783), but he strongly argued against the conservative and elitist nature of it. He attacked two major areas: a single executive, and a two-body legislature, one being smaller and more powerful than the other. He favored only a representative legislative body based on increased suffrage not based on property, which should be divided into two, then have separate votes taken and combine the total. He scoffed at the idea that 50 privileged men could defeat the will of the hundreds of other legislators. He also believed that the real strength of the Constitution lay in the ability to rewrite it at the will of the people. So he was no originalist. (See "Constitutional Reform" under Chronology). Paine was a founder of the modern concept of constitutions, where the people, not the government, create a constitution from which the government if formed. The government should have no role in the creation or amendment of the constitution. This concept is rarely followed, which has gutted the concept.

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]]> Did Thomas Paine make corsets for a living? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/did-thomas-paine-make-corsets-for-a-living/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/did-thomas-paine-make-corsets-for-a-living/ Paine was trained at an early age to follow his father's trade as a staymaker. The first biography of Paine by Oldys (who was paid by an English Lord to slander Paine) characterized Paine as "corset-maker" to deride him. This is one of the many slanders spread to this day to discredit him. Paine trained […]

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]]> Paine was trained at an early age to follow his father's trade as a staymaker. The first biography of Paine by Oldys (who was paid by an English Lord to slander Paine) characterized Paine as "corset-maker" to deride him. This is one of the many slanders spread to this day to discredit him. Paine trained as a teenager to be a staymaker but worked only a couple of years at it after returning from sea as a privateer at age 20.

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]]> Did Thomas Paine live in Bordentown? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/did-thomas-paine-live-in-bordentown/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/did-thomas-paine-live-in-bordentown/ Bordentown is the only place in the world where Paine bought property. He was given a farm in New Rochelle, NY by the State Assembly, but never chose a place to buy outside of Bordentown. The house he actually bought, along with a piece of land across Crosswicks Creek, was on Church St. W. It […]

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]]> Bordentown is the only place in the world where Paine bought property. He was given a farm in New Rochelle, NY by the State Assembly, but never chose a place to buy outside of Bordentown. The house he actually bought, along with a piece of land across Crosswicks Creek, was on Church St. W. It was moved sometime in the late 19th century from the corner of Farnsworth down the block of Church St W. a couple of lots, and is still there. The plaque on Farnsworth is incorrect as it names the present structure at the NW corner of Farnsworth and Church W as the house. However, Paine never lived in the house he bought! He "gave" it to a widow of the war to live rent free, and then rented it to a ship Captain and his wife. He eventually sold it in 1803 along with the land across the creek. Paine actually lived in Bordentown between 1778 and 1787 (one of the longest residences in his life) with his close friend Joseph Kirkbride at the foot of Farnsworth overlooking the river (the property is at 2 Farnsworth). He had a room on the second floor of a large house, and it was there he worked on his famous bridge. A statue of Paine was erected in 1996 near this property where his horse Button grazed at the end of Prince St. This house became a hotel and then the first female college in the country. It burned to the ground around 1900, and the current house there was built soon after.

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]]> Did Paine write these quotes? https://thomaspaine.org/faqs/did-paine-write-these-quotes/ Mon, 05 May 2025 07:29:40 +0000 https://thomaspaine.org/2025/05/05/did-paine-write-these-quotes/ The following quotes are NOT from Thomas Paine: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” This quote does not exist in the Paine corpus, and seems to have its origin in the 20th century. “Reputation is what other people think of us. Character is what God knows of us.” This quote is from a […]

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]]> The following quotes are NOT from Thomas Paine:

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” This quote does not exist in the Paine corpus, and seems to have its origin in the 20th century.

“Reputation is what other people think of us. Character is what God knows of us.” This quote is from a book by Shannon L. Alder.

“The government that governs best governs least.” This is from Henry David Thoreau, who borrowed it from the cover of the journal Democratic Review, 1837-1859.

“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” This is from Edward Abbey in A Voice Crying in the Wilderness, pg.19. And the actual quote is “A patriot must be ready to defend his country from his government.” The version presented here is the one used on the Internet.

“Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property… Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.” This quote is in Thoughts on Defensive War in Foner’s Complte Works of Thomas Paine, however there is a question, at this point, as to whether this is Paine’s writing.

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