Thomas Paine

PD: Reproduction of Painting by Milliere, after Sharp, after Romney: b. 1737 d. 1809. The first revolutionary of them all. Even before... more

by Thea Recuerdo

Title

Thomas Paine

Artist

Thea Recuerdo

Medium

Painting - Prints

Description

PD: Reproduction of Painting by Milliere, after Sharp, after Romney: b. 1737 d. 1809. The first revolutionary of them all. Even before Washington, Jefferson, Adams, whispered of independence, Thomas Paine cried out for it in his pamphlet " common sense ". Six months later the declaration of Independence was written and signed, Thomas Paine had an influence in it. He joined Washington's army, and on a freezing winter night wrote "Crisis 1" on a drum-head by a campfire. But there was more fire in the written crisis than in the burning wood of the campfire. Washington had it read to his pitiful army and they turned to subdue the British at Trenton. He was the one-man bureau of propaganda of the American Revolution. He was the first to coin the phrase "The United States Of America" he nourished liberty with his breath, sweat, and written words. He wrote the "Age of Reason" , trying to free men from Theocracy and superstition, but most people didn't want to be freed, they considered Paine a destroyer of religion. Paine called himself a Deist.
He had said that slavery was a vicious inhumane practice at a time when that view was unpopular, he wrote on the conduct of banks, and the system of laying and collecting taxes. He cried for old-age benefits, pleaded for free education for the poor, pensions for ex-soldiers, and equal rights for women.
Politicians since Thomas Paine have charmed and impressed their constituents with his words and phrases, they have borrowed his ideas, and used them as their own. At his death in 1809 there were only six close friends at his funeral, he was reviled and ridiculed because of his religious belief, and it is a sad commentary on those with closed minds. Here in his own words is what Thomas Paine said about religion: " I believe in one God, and no more; I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy. I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the protestant church, or any other church. All Institutions of churches appear to me to be human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe. Man does not serve God when he prays, for it is himself he is trying to serve; and as to hiring or paying men to pray, as if the deity needed instructions, it is, my opinion an abomination. The key to heaven is not in the keeping of any sect, nor ought the road to it be obstructed by any. Our relations to each other in this world as friend to friend respecting rights, let religious opinions be what they may. For every time and every season a personage appears who will effect the change of human history, although vilified, and denounced by many of his peers, history records that Thomas Paine was, and remains, America's God-father."

Uploaded

April 23rd, 2012