However, Paine’s valedictions changed over the course of the late 1780s. In a letter to Kitty Nicholson Few, he simply signed off with “Thomas Paine”—but only after writing “God bless you all! and send me safe back to my much loved America!” A letter to Jefferson closed with “I remain yours affectionately.” In 1790, Paine continued to sign his letters to friends with variations on “I am my dear friend yours very affectionately.” For more formal occasions, or addressing those in more elevated positions whom he respected, he would still use some variant of “your humble servant” such as in a letter to George Washington of October 26, 1789, where he signed it “your most affectiona. obedient Hblservant.”

For those to whom he bore some resentment or hostility, he omitted any valediction, adding only his signature. We see this in a letter to John King (1793), Gouverneur Morris(1794), and Daniel Isaacs Eaton (1795). But Paine’s most famously assertive valediction can be seen in his letter to Home Secretary Henry Dundas (of Britain), reproaching the latter for issuing a proclamation that sought to suppress “seditious” writings. Here, Paine signs his letter with great aplomb, writing “Not your obedient humble Servant, But the contrary, THOMAS PAINE.” A far cry indeed from his earlier valedictions!

Later in life, a new signature appeared: “Yours in friendship.” Less courtly, but so much more heartfelt!

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From 1768 to 1774, when Thomas Paine sailed to America, he lived in the town of Lewes, England. In his honor, a conference was organized in Sussex, January 9- 10, 2026, by Thomas Paine: Legacy; the University of Sussex; and the Iona University Institute for Thomas Paine Studies. About 40 scholars and Paine admirers met to share research findings and explore Paine’s life, work, and global influence,with a special focus on the 250th anniversary of Paine’s seminal work, Common Sense. They were also treated to tours of the charming medieval town of Lewes, and enjoyed experiencing part of the conference inside Bull House, Paine’s residence while in Lewes, now open regularly as a historic site and an aspiring “center for democracy.”

This article seeks to capture the major themes and only partially summarizes the wealth of information and wide range of perspectives exchanged during two full days of formal sessions and informal discussions. A number of presentations drew attention to the mutual influences between Paine and radical thinkers supporting working-class and suffrage reform movements in England, Scotland and Ireland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Presentations also addressed the widespread influence of Paine’s ideas not only in England and America, but in France, Spanish America, and beyond. Starting with the German translation of Common Sense for the German community in Philadelphia, other Paine writings were thereafter translated into many languages. Participants often alluded to Common Sense as a living document, one that encourages people to think for themselves, evokes emotional responses, and deservesto be heard orally, as it often was when it was first published.

Presenters recognized Paine’s writing as a call to action against tyranny and dogma not only in 1776, but throughout the 19th century and one still relevant for our time.Paine was praised as a political philosopher who was practical in his approach to institutions and the work of good government, which he regarded as essential to protecting freedom and achieving equality.

Gregory Claeys, Professor Emeritus of History at Royal Holloway, University of London, and general editor of Paine’s new Collected Writings, delivered a keynote presentation entitled “Thomas Paine and Three Revolutions That Weren’t.” The presentation highlighted Paine’s roles in reform efforts in America, Britain, and France. Paine’s ideal was a universal democratic republic with limits on concentration of power and executive authority. He envisioned a forerunner to the modern welfare state, governed by a popularly elected legislature. As Claeys concluded, Paine’s ideal was unfulfilled in all three cases. In America, he was particularly disappointed by the Federalist constitution adopted in 1787.

PAINE AND THE JUNIUS LETTERS

A second keynote presentation was made by the respected political scientist and historian Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard. Like Claeys, Allen affirmed that Thomas Paine was forming his ideas and beginning to write eloquently long before he arrived in America. She described her discovery of a close relationship between Paine and Charles Lennox, the reformminded Duke of Richmond who lived near Lewes. Her research on Lennox will be published later in 2026 under the title Radical Duke: How One Aristocrat-and the American Revolution-Transformed Britain. Among other things, she looked closely at the Junius letters: seditious attacks on the British monarchy that called for universal male suffrage, published during the period from 1768-1772. The actual authors were kept secret, constituting a mystery for centuries. Allen has concluded that the Junius letters were underwritten by the Duke and that Paine was a key author of many of the letters, recruited by the Duke to advance his agenda. Allen reached her conclusions on the roles of the Duke and Paine in the Junius letters independently of the editorial team assembling Paine’s new Collected Writings, which also recognizes Paine’s hand in the Junius letters based on computer-assisted text analysis.

Paul Myles, member of the TPHA Board,reported on his continuing research into Paine’s early writing while in Lewes. Various presentations also examined Paine as a man with many gifts and a social being with varied friendships and influential networks throughout his career. His writings tell uslittle about his views on gender relationships. As one presenter described, he married a local Lewes woman and schoolteacher, Elizabeth Ollive, in 1771. Although their marriage dissolved in 1774, both the content of the separation agreement and the evident mutual respect between the two may provide an indication of Paine’s relatively enlightened perspective on women.

The enthusiasm and engagement of younger scholars in Lewes suggests that scholarship about Thomas Paine and exploration of the context and impact of his work will continue to yield new insights well into the future.

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The TPHA Cartoon collection offers viewers a vivid journey of how Paine’s public image has morphed over the last 250 years. Although there were some positive portrayals of Paine early on, his many enemies, both in Britain and America, eventually took aim at him with vitriolic, often violent imagery, seeking to defame him and attack his allies to quash his message of representative democracy and reason.

The gallery overflows with 1790s cartoons and sketches attacking Paine that were funded by the British monarchy. Created by famous political cartoonists like James Gillray, James Sayers, and Isaac Cruikshank, these images are often vicious, showing Paine’s execution and torture, or portraying him as a demon or in the form of a variety of beasts.

Curated from the British Museum, the Library of Congress, the American Philosophical Society, the New York Public Library, Truth Seeker magazine, the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, and others, our Paine editorial cartoons gallery is a colorful visual carnival. Although we are adding images on an ongoing basis, at this point we have over 130 Paine cartoons arranged in chronological order, spanning from the earliest we have discovered so far, made in 1777, all the way up to a sample of cartoons from Polyp’s 2022 graphic novel PAINE: a Fantastical Visual Biography.

It is a delight to watch new generations of Paine supporters use political art to resurrect hisimage in counterpoint to the negativity of the 18th century, and, with it, his message. The political cartoons of the Truth Seeker magazine’s Watson Heston are a triumph of pro-Paine advocacy that are perhaps without equal. The 1880s illustrations by Joseph Keppler and Adolph Schwarzmann also reflect the era’s optimism and a changing public image of Paine.

PAINE’S REDEMPTION

By the 20th century, Paine illustrations turned less poisonous. Instead, we see Paine reflected in glory in a fresco by Mexican painter Diego Rivera’s 1933 mural at Rockefeller Center (eventually plastered over by Nelson Rockefeller); a 1938 postage stamp from Poland to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution; and Paine portrayed as Star Trek’s Mr. Spock.

TPHA now hasthe largest collection of Paine cartoons and artwork to be found anywhere. Explore the galleries and the ever-evolving landscape of Paine’s legacy. If you find other political cartoons or images that our missing from our collections, please reach out to share them with us at info@thomaspaine.org.

See the TPHA Cartoon collection now!

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Back in 2020, I was asked by the South Coast Rail Partnership (SCRP) if I could create a poster exhibition about Thomas Paine in the four waiting rooms in Lewes Railway Station. I was keen to tell the story of two men, Thomas Paine and General Gage, Britain’s Commander-in-Chief in North America at the outbreak of the American Revolution. Both had strong links to Lewes, Paine residing here from 1768 to 1774 and the family seat of the Gage family at Firle just five miles east of Lewes. Covid struck and froze the work but I recently suggested that we could mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by resurrecting the project.

The posters were hung in late December 2025, this time badged as a TPHA project with my having recently joined its Board. As I hung the posters, public engagement was immediate! People kept asking questions while I hung them! It was very heartening as I had no idea that it would work at all. The challenge was to give enough information without too much detail. Judging from the initial responses I think we got the right balance.

Here are the posters:

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