Explore articles from The Beacon, the Thomas Paine Historical Association’s bi-monthly journal. Each issue features multiple original articles written by a diverse group of leading Thomas Paine scholars, historians, and experts. Together, these contributions examine Paine’s life, writings, and enduring influence while connecting his ideas on liberty, democracy, and human rights to the political and social issues of today.
There is a preponderance of faulty historiography about Paine, and this is why our Association was founded to correct it. Bernard Bailyn produced a book in the late 1760s, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, which represents the conservative view of history.
Diego Rivera was a famous Mexican artist in the first half of the 20th century. His most controversial project was the mural he created for the Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Diego Rivera’s Mural Panel of the American Revolution Read Post »
Every proposed Washington, D.C. monument and museum must be presented to the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC) for consideration. TPMA spokespersons conducted a presentation to NCMAC on July 27, 2022.
Jefferson turned a blind eye to slavery, rooted in fake subjective science, while Paine saw humanity as one whole: “The world is my country, my religion is to do good.” In this sense, Kindness in Paine’s writings is the end product of the Enlightenment, waiting for realization.
A Tale of Two Toms: Jefferson and Paine’s Radically Different Visions of America Read Post »
The new works being discovered by the Project has confirmed his role as a leading writer close to the Pitt/Shelburne faction long before coming to America. Volume I of the new Collection of his writings will be almost entirely filled with these recently discovered works.
George Loyd, lived in New Rochelle from 1853 to his death in 1906. For 30 years he cared for the abandoned grave of Paine, and when the Monument was moved in 1905, he cut off a piece of the tree over the grave for remembrance.
Gilbert Vale was an early supporter of Thomas Paine, first in England, then in America in the early 19th century. He was a freethought publisher and writer, and through his work he reached the freethought and progressive segments of the American people.
The Thomas Paine Historical Association will be designating the Paine Monument as the Thomas Paine Monument and Grave. We cannot officially change the name, as the City of New Rochelle has jurisdiction over it.
The author of the article in the newspapers at the end of June in 1776 was Thomas Paine, making him the one that publicly coined the name. He used it again in January, 1777 in Crisis II
A song by Joseph Mather, to the tune of God Save the Queen, “showing support for Tom Paine’s Rights of Man and reflecting the republican sentiment immediately understood by working people.” From the mid 1790s.
When our Association was formed, it was on January 29, 1884, on Paine’s birthdate. The people involved had gathered every year on Paine’s birthdate, to meet at the Liberal Club in New York City.
Little has been written about the political party formed after Paine’s return from the battlefield in January 1777, the Whig Society. The Society was perhaps the first revolutionary party in modern history.
