William C. Kashatus: Was Thomas Paine an Anarchist or Founding Father?
[William C. Kashatus, a professional historian and writer, is former Director of Educational Programs at Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he curated the nationally recognized exhibit Just over the Line: Chester County and the Underground Railroad.]
ON THE EVE of the American Revolution, Britain's North American colonists were divided over the issue of independence.
A third favored separation from England. Another third opposed it, and yet another third was indifferent, believing that the issue didn't affect them.
That changed in January 1776 with the publication of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense." The 47-page pamphlet served as a lightning rod for American independence by mobilizing the masses for revolution. But Paine's volatile rhetoric and his controversial background prevented historians from recognizing his significant contribution as a Founding Father until two centuries later.
Paine was a self-educated Englishman who had failed as a corset-maker, tax-collector and husband before emigrating to the colonies in 1774....
Read entire article at Philadelphia Inquirer
ON THE EVE of the American Revolution, Britain's North American colonists were divided over the issue of independence.
A third favored separation from England. Another third opposed it, and yet another third was indifferent, believing that the issue didn't affect them.
That changed in January 1776 with the publication of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense." The 47-page pamphlet served as a lightning rod for American independence by mobilizing the masses for revolution. But Paine's volatile rhetoric and his controversial background prevented historians from recognizing his significant contribution as a Founding Father until two centuries later.
Paine was a self-educated Englishman who had failed as a corset-maker, tax-collector and husband before emigrating to the colonies in 1774....