Frances Wright has been called the “female Thomas Paine.” In important ways, she was. Fanny Wright was the first American feminist, a radical abolitionist, labor champion, powerful public orator, and one of the first philosophers making a public case for freethought.
Frances (Fanny) Wright: ‘The Female Thomas Paine’ Read Post »
I had heard Thomas Paine’s name, but Bob Dylan put me on the track of discovering Paine’s profound importance in history. Dylan has been the soundtrack of my life. When he sang about Paine in the song, “As I went out One Morning,”, his lyrics stayed with me.
![Marker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the inscription, ‘At his print shop here, Robert Bell published the first edition of Thomas Paine’s revolutionary pamphlet [Common Sense] in January 1776. Arguing for a republican form of government under a written constitution, it played a key role in rallying American support for independence.’ Erected in 1993 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission – Photo by J. J. Prats](https://staging.thomaspaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/thomas-paine-common-sense-788x1024.jpg)
In Common Sense, Paine introduced the concept of modern democracy. This idea is what the “revolution” in the American Revolution rested upon. Self-rule was a by-product of the concept of government “of the people, for the people, by the people.” Before Common Sense, the meaning of “democracy” was diffuse.
Paine in life never used “Tom” as his name, neither did friends and acquaintances. His signature was “T Paine.” Public use of “Tom” started in the slanderous 1790s disinformation campaign of the British government. American political enemies picked it up, chiefly the Federalists and the churches.
The Beacon, a freethought journal by Gilbert Vale (1788-1866) was a pivotal, influential social and political publication in the mid-19th century, publishing 587 issues from 1836 to 1851. In the mid-19th century, The Beacon helped to forge a movement against the age’s undemocratic forces.
Calculations are objective, there is no room to introduce prejudices. Such a methodology to analyze text was developed by the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies: to make use of proven methods of comparing author features, they took these methods and combined them.
Computer Text Analysis of Thomas Paine’s Writings Read Post »
In 1965, a noted historian, Forest MacDonald, wrote a textbook on the creation of the Republic, E Pluribus Unum. He is known for his rationalizing of slavery, ultra-conservatism, and apologist for all things Southern. But he got one thing right.
Immigration to America was a major impetus for the American Revolution, both physically and intellectually. Thomas Paine welcomed immigrants who were escaping tyranny. In 1776, he wrote in Common Sense, the manifesto of the American Revolution:
Thomas Paine on Immigrants and America as an “Asylum for Mankind” Read Post »
Our Association was founded in 1884, and the founders were from various organizations, all of which were opposed to the Comstock Act. The Comstock Act was created to combat “obscenity”, dodging the idea that the Comstock Act was in itself obscene to democracy.
While I beheld with pleasure the dawn of liberty rising in Europe, I saw with regret the lustre of it fading in America. In less than two years from the time of my departure some distant symptoms painfully suggested the idea that the principles of the Revolution were expiring.
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense begins with a discussion on government; in fact, the content of it in general is about a new form of government. It is a manifesto for a new era, arising from the political economy that is emerging, hampered by feudalism.
O’Connor, although he inherited an estate and was a member of the Irish Parliament, was an advocate for women’s rights, supported emancipation of Catholics although a Protestant, and independence from England. When he joined the United Irishmen fighting the British occupation of Ireland, he was arrested.
