Thomas Paine – A Writer Who Helped Shape America

There have been many different people and things that have changed America, and helped shape it, in many different ways; one such person was a British man named Thomas Paine, who was a political pamphlet writer in America during the time of the American Revolutionary war. Many people have heard of Thomas Paine and/or read at least one, if not more, of his writings. Thomas Paine’s writings (in particular, Common Sense and The American Crisis) were his contribution to the war effort, and they helped to shape America because of his skill at writing. Paine’s writings helped inspire and encourage people to start, and then fight in, the Revolutionary War. Thomas Paine was quite a remarkable person, but he did not start out as a political pamphlet writer when he came to America.

Thomas Paine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Thomas Paine (originally called Thomas Pain, but it was later changed) was “born on January 29, 1736 … [to] Joseph and Francis Pain (or Paine)” in Thetford, a town in England. Thomas Paine’s father, a Quaker, was a stay-maker (a stay is a kind of rope used on ships) and his mother, an Anglican, did not work; like most of the women of the time, she stayed at home most days. In his early years, Thomas went to the Thetford Grammar school until the age of 12 years old when Thomas failed out of the Thetford Grammar school. After he was dismissed from the Thetford Grammar school, Thomas was apprenticed to his father, at the age of 13. This experience as a stay-maker’s apprentice would help Thomas in his later years, but not now. After working for his father for six years Thomas decided to use stays instead of making them. When Thomas was 19 he enlisted, and served, as a privateer for 4 years, after which he returned to Britain.

When he moved back to Britain, Thomas opened his own shop and became a master stay-maker. Shortly after opening his own shop, Thomas Paine married Mary Lambert on September 27, 1959, and they lived happily together for a short while. Thomas’ business collapsed, so he and his now pregnant wife had to move to Margate, England. Sadly, shortly after their arrival in Margate, England, Mary went into early labor and both she and their unborn child died in the process. With nothing left worth staying for in Margate, Paine moved back to Thetford, England in July of 1761. There, Paine became a supernumerary officer. A little more than a year after taking the job as a supernumerary officer, Thomas Paine was promoted to the position of an Excise Officer and moved to Grantham, Lincolnshire to fulfill the position.

Just three years after he was promoted to the position of an Excise Officer, Thomas Paine was dismissed from his position for failing to inspect goods that he had reported as inspected. A year later, Paine requested that he receive his job as an Excise Officer back. His reinstatement request was granted the next day by the Board of Excise, but only upon vacancy. In the meantime, he began work as a stay-maker, once again. “In 1767 he was appointed to a position in Grampound, Cornwall; subsequently, he asked to leave this post to await a vacancy, thus, he became a school teacher in London.” (Thomas)

On February 19, 1768, Paine was reappointed as an Excise Officer in a town called Lewes, in Sussex. On March 26, 1771 Thomas married his then landlord’s daughter, Elizabeth Ollive. But that was not the only thing that happened to Paine in Lewes; it was in Lewes that Thomas Paine was first involved in civic matters. Paine (and other Excise Officers) wanted better pay and better working conditions, and so they protested for it. The protesting began in 1772 and continued on until 1773. As a part of this protest, Paine published his first political pamphlet called The Case of the Officers of Excise. He spent the summer distributing his pamphlet to practically anyone who would take it. He worked hard for what he believed in. Unfortunately, Thomas was dismissed from his position as an Excise Officer in the spring of 1774 for unknown reasons. Because of the loss of his job, he had to sell all of his possessions to pay his debts and stay out of debtor’s prison.

On June 4, 1774, Paine officially separated from his wife, Elizabeth, and ended their marriage, without having any children. He then moved to London where “he met Benjamin Franklin … who helped him emigrate to Philadelphia.” (Independence) In Philadelphia, Thomas really began his career in writing about politics. In January 1775, Thomas was hired as the editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine. From this position his career as a writer began.

Common Sense.jpg – Wikipédia">Thomas’ first major writing was Common Sense. Today, just about every person, in the United States has heard of Common Sense, and in Thomas Paine’s time it was the same way. Paine’s pamphlet, which began circulation in January of 1776, was read around the colonies. Common Sense was easy to read and understand, perfect for his audience of poor and often illiterate people. In Common Sense Thomas was presenting an argument for independence from England. “At a time when many still hoped for reconciliation with Britain, Common Sense demonstrated to many the inevitability of separation.” (Thomas) Thomas was very blunt in his deliverance of the truth, he held nothing back and just put it all on the paper. He told people what he thought and did not push the blame for the issue to parliament, but to the king himself. Paine believed that Britain had no intention of reconciling with the colonies, and he told everyone. One such line from Common Sense that supports the previous statement about his is: “As Britain hath not manifested the least inclination towards a compromise, we may be assured that no terms can be obtained worthy the acceptance of the Continent, or any ways equal to the expense of blood and treasure we have been already put to.” (Paine)

Thomas Paine was not the first person to use the arguments that he used in Common Sense to advocate independence, but he was the first person to put it in a way so that everyone could understand the complicated and convoluted issue, which was needed if people were to rally behind the idea of independence from Britain. Paine used his writing skills to amplify the voice of the colonies, a voice that many people weren’t using. Many people agreed with Paine’s ideas but had been too scared to voice their opinions. Common Sense gave people the confidence they needed to voice their opinions on the independence issue. After he published Common Sense “Paine threw himself into the struggle for independence.” (Foner)

Thomas attempted, for a short while, to serve the United States of America by enlisting in the army during the war to support the cause. He served as an aide to Nathanael Greene. Unfortunately, like his attempt at school and being a master stay-maker, Thomas Paine “wasn’t a success as a soldier.” (Independence) Once Paine realized that being a soldier wasn’t the thing for him, he returned to what he knew best: writing.

While Thomas was unsuccessful as a soldier, his writing was just as successful, if not more so, when he returned to it. Thomas’ second publication that had a huge impact on America was a pamphlet called The American Crisis. The American Crisis actually has several parts that were published, but it was the first part that really had an impact on America. This pamphlet was published in late 1776 during a particularly dreary time in the war. Troops were losing faith and colonists were growing impatient with the war that they had expected to be over with already. Troops were low on food and many practically had rags for clothes in the cold, bitter winter. Paine intended for the pamphlet to give the troops a moral boost and to encourage everybody. And that it did. “To inspire his soldiers, General George Washington had The American Crisis … read aloud to them.” (Thomas) Paine’s second writing had just the kind of effect that he had intended it to. Troops continued on with renewed strength and the colonists were once again prepared to continue the fight.

Paine did have more writings other than Common Sense and The American Crisis. Many, many more, in fact, such as Rights of Man, The Age of Reason, and Agrarian Justice, to name just a few. But none of these other writings had as much of an effect, if any, on the development of America. He wrote many of them after he left America and moved to France;, in fact, they were more angled towards French politics than American.

So, how, exactly, did Thomas Paine help shape America? Paine’s writings brought to the surface some arguments about the fight for independence and inspired people to fight for what they believed in. Without the little extra push that Common Sense gave the people to fight for what they believed in, freedom from the British, the colonies might have never gone to war for their independence, and America would be very different from how it is today. And without the extra inspiration that The American Crisis gave the American troops who were wilting under the pressure of the ongoing war in the cold winter, they might have given up on the war before it had even really, truly gotten started.

In 1777, Thomas was put in the position of Secretary of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs. The position allowed for Thomas to do what he loved, work in politics. Unfortunately, in 1778, Paine “alluded to secret negotiation underway with France in his pamphlets.” (Thomas) This resulted in a scandal and Paine was dismissed from the committee in 1779. Paine was not done in America yet, though. He begged and pleaded with New York State and they recognized his services to the country by granting him an estate. Finally in 1787, Thomas Paine left America for England, and later France.

Thomas Paine came to America as a penniless British man with little to no education, but he still played an important role in the shaping of the America that is known and loved today. Paine’s pamphlets, specifically Common Sense and The American Crisis, helped to encourage and inspire the American troops and people in a time when they desperately needed it. Without the inspiration and encouragement that Thomas Paine offered in his political pamphlets, the colonies may never have gone to war against the British, and this would have resulted in a very different timeline.