Thomas Paine: The Man Who Taught Us That America Is Radical To Its Core

An Independence Day look back at the radical influence of Thomas Paine, the often-overlooked founding father whose words sparked the American Revolution. Get more videos from the American News Project here. Watch the video on Paine below:

Comments

[AndrewMT]

After George Washington, Thomas Paine is probably my favorite founding father. It is ironic that an Englishman was the first to publicly propose American Independence.

Besides Common Sense, his work writing American Crisis is also good.

[kellygrrrl]

one show I really like is "Criminal Minds"

they always quote Paine

[Writeonwater]

I am heartened that Paine is being valued.
Indeed his reputation was destroyed when he published THE AGE OF REASON and exposed the many contradictions and untruths of the bible. He went from hero to scoundrel in a very short period of time. The irony is he gave freely for public good including his design for steel bridges which was a vast improvement. His love of truth cost him a great deal.
I find it remarkable that in the two of the collected works of Thomas Jefferson that I possess that there is not one correspondence with Paine though there are letters between Jefferson and other friends. In Paine's collected works there is correspondence between Jefferson and Paine. I find this fact a bit curious. Once you read Paine's work it becomes clear who influenced The Declaration of Independence. Which if you have not read, be informed it is quite a radical document.
If you keyword "Bertrand Russell THE FATE OF THOMAS PAINE". You can find some of the scandalous details of the slander that Paine endured.

[MajorKong]

From Juan Cole:

Your Fourth of July is blood for oil.

My Fourth of July is the pure sunbeam of peace.

Yours is the imperial presidency and "so what?" to public opinion.

Mine is "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

Yours is profiling and discrimination.

Mine is "all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."

Yours is "My country right or wrong."

Mine is avoiding "Offences against the Law of Nations"

Yours is a monarchical presidency above the law.

Mine is, with Tom Paine, "in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other."

The rest is at http://www.juancole.com/

[kellygrrrl]

thank you

[peacekitten]

excellent post.

[bison2]

Bill Moyers: Thomas Paine & the Promise of America PT 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iyh0d0gXNM

Bill Moyers: Thomas Paine & the Promise of America PT 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOzjpAxzH6c&feature=related

[kellygrrrl]

Bill Moyers is one of the few great minds available to the masses at this point

thank you

[bison2]

Paine"s writings reminds people of how radicalism or radical politics may be defined as any challenge to the status quo either on the basis of social class, race, ethnicity, culture, or any combination of the two. The strength of the radical tradition is its ability to change, shift and merge, to disappear and then re-appear again in new places and in new forms as it reacts to the cycles of capitalism and nascent nationalism

[bison2]

"Paine has long been an all-purpose idol for American radicals--sometimes of those whose ideas have won out, like William Lloyd Garrison and Susan B. Anthony, and more frequently by those whose ideas haven't, like Eugene Debs and Tom Hayden. But Paine--with his distrust of consolidated government authority and his belief in free commercial markets--can be plausibly claimed by conservatives as well. Ronald Reagan, to take one example, was fond of quoting Paine to the effect, 'We have it in our power to begin the world over again'."

[MagisterLudi]

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again'."
And Reagan didn't and neither would Obama.
Mainly because both are Christian conservatives by deed incapable to transcends their paradigm of privilege.

[darthdarcy]

We must remember that America was founded by Liberals and Radicals like Thomas Paine not conservatives...there is no such thing as a conservative revolutionary or revolution...the conservative were and still are the Tories...such as the federalist Society and those of their pernicious ilk who sit upon the Supreme Court...such as Scalia and Alito, Tories to the core..lovers of authority and totalitarianism...

The Corporations have replaced the King just as Bush has attempted and largely betrayed all American principles in his lust for power and the Unitarian Dictatorship...now McCain wants to be the front man King for the Corporations that rule over us and break up and sell of America as in any hostile takeover, betraying it's sovereignty and self reliance...and We The People...!

[truthynesslover]

We the people are sheep! what did we do when the election was STOLEN from Al Gore NOTHING!!

[Dragonblaster]

Cool lil video. I like all the examples of the American revolutionary spirit. It makes me proud to be an American. That's who we are; a people ready to fight against BS.

It seems inevitable that our inherent spirit will demand a 3rd and maybe 4th party in the future. I think much of the revolutionary nature sits in what is now the Democratic party. I don't know about everybody else, but this Democratic party is not sitting so well with me lately. We voted for change in 2006, and with Pelosi and others I have not seen anything I voted for happen. I'm for Obama, but lately he doesn't seem like the man I stood behind just one month ago.

These examples of a supposed savior (the Democrat Party) have been sitting uneasy in me. I fear they may be using the inherent revolutionary nature within many us on the left. Are we the equivalent to the Republicans Evangelical base? Are they just using our spirit to get "in" only to be complete corporate interested lame ducks? For Pelosi and crew it seems to be the case. We have yet to see with Obama.

[1oldlady]

Paine was a man who did not just write "Common Sense" but also " Man's Rights." Which most of those on this post already know! But his writings is what caught the attention in England of a man who saw his vision was B. Franklin.

I celebrate this day with joy and wisdom because I can claim that I am a direct decedent to his wild wisdom! The sad part of his story is when he died in 1807, he was buried in New England, but as history goes, his grave was dug up and his remains were brought back to England, yet it takes another twist....again, his grave in England was dug up and his remains were scatter about and to this day, still unknown where!

Of all the men who wanted separation from King George, his was the most vocal and radical progressive man and did not deserve what he got....

I have some of his correspondence with Washington, and Franklin; they are a tunnel into his mind and visions.

He along with J. Locke...should be credited for what we have today and hope to preserve for generations to come.

[mostlyharmless]

every time i hear the word "bipartisanship", i feel like my head is going to explode

"bipartisanship" is just a euphemism for the corporate-centered status quo . . . corporations don't like change, don't like controversy, and our leaders are so dulled by greed that they will abandon any principle rather than rock the gravy-laden boat . . . but the status quo isn't working for me, my neighbors, our military, or those poor folks living under u.s. occupation . . . yes, change could get messy, and we could have some false starts, but i don't think that we can survive as we are . . . we NEED a leader who will put principle about "bipartisanship", a new thomas paine to wake us from our consumerism-glutted sleep and inspire us to revive that radical experiment that was our democracy

[kae]

Ron Paul & Dennis Kucinich tried - corporate media attacked and smeared and many americans - HUFFPO'S included (as you will see soon) joined in.

[Vr6]

Here,here!

[mostlyharmless]

yikes! i meant "principle ABOVE partisanship"

[Shaddup]

Bravo!

[Demoid]

If people are going to look at Paine's legacy they need to know that he was a hard-core anti-Semite and, like other white men of his time, didn't lose any sleep over slavery. A great American? Yes, but also a very flawed one.

[truthynesslover]

Jesus didnt loose any sleep over slavery either and he seems pretty popular.

[peacekitten]

he was also a hard-core atheist, whose corpse was desecrated for that.

yes, he was flawed, but the ideas for a just society he set forth in his writings were designed to protect EVERYONE, equally, whether he agreed with everything about them or not.

the founders were not perfect. but they were visionaries, the likes of which appear on this earth all too rarely.

[Demoid]

The fact that he was an atheist was one of his positive traits. Anyone who believs in reason can't be expected to buy into all that religion mumbo-jumbo. Why should failing to believe in the supernatural make someone a bad person?

[mostlyharmless]

paine was indeed a product of his times and far from perfect, but i think that he would vigorously defend our right to be critical of his legacy, and he wouldn't spit on us and call us anti-american for disagreeing with him . . . our founding fathers believed that a vigorous democracy required vigorous debate, even bloodshed . . . we could have used some of that back when congress was rubber stamping george bush's war policies

[Davwbaird]

On religions forcing themselves Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.
Thomas Paine

[Guynemer]

And we all know what a liberal Payne was...not


"That government is best which governs least."

[MajorKong]

Note to Guynemer - He wasn't much for "unitary executives" or "enhanced interrogation techniques" either.

[MagisterLudi]

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.
Thomas Paine

Ooo, guns, I am scared of guns..... they're violent...... let's rely on uncle policemen for protection....

America: no liberty in liberalism; no conservation in conservatism.

WAKE UP

[syrupcore]

TP ftw

[ubetchaiam]

"Thomas Paine had passed the legendary limit of life. One by one most of his old friends and acquaintances had deserted him. Maligned on every side, execrated, shunned and abhorred " his virtues denounced as vices " his services forgotten " his character blackened, he preserved the poise and balance of his soul." ---"The Age of Reason gave ample excuse for the religiously devout to hate him";
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine#Later_years

Not much has changed; the 'religiously devout' still hate the idea of reason as a basis for living.