The American Revolution Thomas Paine Summary

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Although revolution was already impending at the time of his arrival to America, the story of Thomas Paine struck me as one of the strongest stories of rebellion. Thomas Paine was born in England in 1737 to an Anglican mother and Quaker father, a corset maker. It seemed almost like he was built for a revolution, born into poverty but with high intelligence it didn’t take long for him to see the faults in his society. At only eight years old he listened to a sermon at church and recognized the deep-rooted cruelty of Christianity and his so-called-god. By thirteen he had left grammar school, and worked at his father’s corset shop for six years after. At nineteen he ran away from home and took to sea. From then until 1774 he wore many hats, he…show more content…
And Franklin wasn’t wrong to appreciate him, as Paine was self-taught and curious about many things, from philosophy of law to natural sciences. He started working as a journalist in Philadelphia, where he made a stand against slavery and anonymously published Common Sense. In the first pamphlet of Common Sense he points out the flaws of the King and his practices and encourages independence from Britain. He writes that “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right…” and how “A long and violent abuse of power” by Britain would be a good example of…show more content…
He gained a lot of political ground and rewards for his writings but was too careless and hot-headed for public office. In 1787 he decided to return to England to obtain financial help in order to build an iron bridge, but his efforts were fruitless. But it was in England that he wrote his second most famous work, The Rights of Man, where he fervently petitioned against hereditary monarchy. This led him to be charged with treason again and he fled to France, where they made him a citizen and celebrated him as the mouthpiece of revolution. However, he was horrified by the tactics used by the French revolutionists and protested the execution of their king, Louis XVI. Because of this he was accused of being a sympathizer to the Crown and was thrown in prison. Before he could get to trial he was saved by James Monroe, the American Ambassador at the time, and was offered renewed American citizenship and a safe trip back to New
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