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Student Number: 1916750
Was Thomas Paine's influence on the outcome of the American
Revolution greater than his influence on the radical movement in
Britain before 1783?
Thomas Paine, a political writer, was born in Thetford, England on 9
February 1737. Paine lived through two major revolutions: the
American and French Revolutions, and he played a major role in both.
This essay will attempt to decipher whether his influence on the
outcome of the American Revolution was greater than his influence on
the radical movement in Britain before 1791. In order to do this,
it is necessary to consider the circumstances which led Paine to
write his revolutionary pamphlet Common Sense. After making clear
the ideas contained in the pamphlet , this essay will then consider
the goals of the American rebels and the British Radicals before the
work was published and then compare them to the ideas they advocated
after the work was published to identify what, if any, impact it had
upon them. The revolutionary sixteen part series American Crisis
(1776-1783) written during the revolutionary war will also be
discussed to identify whether it had any great influence on the
American rebels or the British radicals.
In 1774 Paine travelled to America with a letter of recommendation
from Benjamin Franklin whom he had met in England, and he had an
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idealised vision for the future of the colonies. At the time he
arrived, America was still the weakest link in the colonial chain,
and it seemed that Britain was effective in its control.1 Paine
found work as executive editor of a journal entitled The Pennsylvania
Magazine after meeting its founder in a bookshop. Aitken, who had
emigrated from Aberdeen, was impressed with Paine’s knowledge of and
ability to talk at length about political affairs. The magazine,
Aitken envisioned, was to be a magazine produced in the American
colonies for the American Colonists.2 Paine accepted the position
as he believed the post suited his skills, talents and aspirations.
He proclaimed that he had found the ‘one kind of life I am fit for,
and that is a thinking one, and, of course, a writing one’.3 Paine
contributed between seventeen to twenty-one articles to The
Pennsylvania Magazine under such pseudonyms as ‘Atlantics’ and ‘Esop’
and much of his impressive contribution focused on the issues
concerning America’s position in the British Empire. Keane argues
that this gave Paine invaluable writing experience and enabled him
to develop the skills he employed to write Common Sense. Paine was
successful in increasing the subscriptions to the magazine from 600
to 1500, making it the most widely read periodical at the time.
This was partly due to Paine’s poem entitled ‘Death of General
1 Keane, J., Tom Paine: a political life (London: Bloomsbury, 1995), pp. 84-852 Ibid, pp. 92-953 Nelson, C., Thomas Paine: His Life, His Time and the Birth of Modern Nations (London: Profile Books Ltd., 2007), p. 62
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Wolfe’, which enticed the Americans with its eloquent imagery.4
Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphian physician, was particularly impressed
by the poem. Paine struck up a relationship with Rush after meeting
him in Aitken’s bookshop in mid-March 1775 due to their common
interest in politics.5 Paine, up to this point, had not been in
support of independence. However, his opinion drastically altered
upon hearing the news of the Battle of Lexington. This can be seen
in his submission to the July 1775 issue of The Pennsylvania Magazine
which questioned the use of violence to justify control over a
colony.6
Ayer argues that Paine was an extremely talented journalist who used
his literary skill to capture the imagination of ordinary
Americans.7 The Pennsylvania Journal on 24 November 1775 contained a
letter entitled ‘A Lover of Order’ which is widely believed by
historians to be Paine’s. This was the first indication that Paine
had accepted independence, as it contained an attack on the
Pennsylvania Assembly which had instructed its delegates to ’dissent
from, and utterly reject any propositions should such be made, that
may cause, or lead to, a separation from Our Mother Country, or a
change of the form of this Government’. The letter argued that ‘The
Delegates in Congress are not Delegates of the Assembly but of the 4 Foner, P.S., The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine Vol. II (New York: The Citadel Press, 1969) ,p. 18035 Keane, J., Tom Paine: a political life, p. 100 6 Ibid, p. 1017 Ayer, A.J., Thomas Paine (London: Faber & Faber, 1988), p. 12
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People –of the Body in Large’. This was an attack on the
Pennsylvania Assembly and advocated that it should favour
independence in line with public opinion. However, Paine was well
aware that independence was not favoured my most Americans at this
time and he was convinced he had to do something drastic to turn the
tide of public opinion.8
After an argument with Aitken over pay, Paine gradually withdrew
from writing for the magazine. He also turned down generous offers
from ‘several literary gentlemen’ in Philadelphia to form a rival
magazine, instead favouring the idea of writing a pamphlet on the
current dysfunctional relationship between Britain and America.
Rush encouraged Paine in this, while reminding him that American
public opinion remained against any ideas of a breakdown in the
relationship of the colonies and her masters. Rush warned him that
‘there were two words which he should avoid by every means necessary
for his own safety and that of the public – independence and
republicanism –‘. Keane states that Americans, in spirit, could be
viewed as more English than the English and any talk of independence
would endanger Paine. In January 1775, the New York Assembly
respectfully warned Paine that ‘that the grandeur and strength of
the British empire’ depended ‘essentially on a restoration of
harmony of affection between the mother country and her colonies.’9
8 Ibid, p. 99 Keane, Tom Paine: a political life, pp. 104-107
5
This idealised view of parliament and George III was held by most
Americans, and this did not alter after the British issued the
‘Proclamation of Rebellion’ on the colonies and the very word
‘independence’ remained a taboo subject. The New Jersey Assembly
also instructed it delegates in Congress to continue to push ‘for
reconciliation with the mother country’. Paine, however, was not
so sentimental about George III and the British Constitution, and
shrugged off various acts of slander on his character, and continued
to voice his opinion that reconciliation would not benefit America.
Again Paine was encouraged by Rush who claimed that he had the
ability to disarm the British tyrant if he chose his words
carefully.10 Paine set about writing his pamphlet and the final
draft was read enthusiastically by Rush, Franklin and David
Rittenhouse. It is widely believed that Franklin was so impressed
with the work that he accepted Paine’s notion of independence. The
most significant alteration to the document was Rush’s
recommendation to rename the pamphlet Common Sense rather than
Paine’s suggestion of Plain Truth. On January 10, 1776 Common Sense,
published anonymously and priced at two shillings, entered the
political debate.11
10 Ibid, p. 10611 Ibid, p. 107
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So what did the pamphlet advocate? Common Sense starts off with a few
remarks about the English Constitution. Paine is critical of the
constitution and the very basis on which it was founded.
The constitution of England is so exceedingly complex… Yet if we will suffer ourselves to examine the component parts of the English constitution, we shall find them to be the base of two ancient tyrannies… the remains of monarchical tyranny in the person of the king… the remains of aristocratical tyranny in the persons of the peers.12
Paine was very critical of the monarchy as an institution. He
stated that Britain’s constitutional monarchy posed the same dangers
as absolute monarchy found in Spain and France, as the monarch was
still able to exercise a great deal of unchecked power.
There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of monarchy…that the crown is the overbearing part in the English constitution needs not to be mentioned…though we have been wise enough to shut and lock a door against absolute monarchy, we at the same time have been foolish enough to put the crown in possession of the key.13
Paine also questioned hereditary succession. He believed that
hereditary succession was a corrupt system as it ran the risk of
having descendants come to the throne who may be inept, barbaric and
inhumane.
To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession;and as the first is a degradation and lessening of ourselves, so thesecond, claimed as a matter of right, is an insult and an impositionon posterity. For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever, and though himself might deserve some decent
12 Paine. T., Common Sense (New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 1997) , pp. 5-6 13 Ibid, pp. 6-7
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degree of honours of his contemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them.14
Paine goes onto discuss the relationship between Britain and
America. He claims that Britain is only protecting America to
fulfil its own self-interests and not due any great love of America.
He also claims that if America was not a part of Britain she would
not have to be protected against the likes of France and Spain as it
is not her enemy but Britain’s.
We have boasted the protection of Great-Britain, without considering, that her motive was interest not attachment; that she did not protect us from our enemies on our account, but from the her enemies on her own account, from those whohad no quarrel with us on any other account, and who will always be our enemies on the same account… France and Spain never were, nor perhaps ever will be our enemies as Americans, but as our being subjects of Great-Britain.15
Paine tried to convince Americans that reconciliation was an unwise
policy to adopt. Instead, Paine called for independence.
Reconciliation and ruin are nearly related… but the most powerful of all arguments, is, that nothing but independence.16
Paine ended his pamphlet with a sincere farewell to British
political factions and called on all Americans to support the push
for an independent America.
Let the names of Whig and Tory be exctinct; and let none other be heard among us, than those of a good citizen, an open and resolute friend, and a virtuos supporter of the RIGHTS of MANKIND and of the FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA.17
14 Ibid, p. 1215 Ibid, p. 1916 Ibid, p. 2817 Ibid, pp. 52-53
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In order to ascertain whether Common Sense had a major effect on
American rebels, it is necessary to look at their aims and goals
prior to its publication. Most Americans were wary of the notion of
breaking their ties with Britain, as they feared that without the
British monarch their politics would degenerate into unchecked
anarchy and tyranny. The majority of colonists also feared that if
they gained independence America would become a petty and
insignificant state, like Poland, which would be open to foreign
aggression.18 As a result, most of the Colonial assemblies
instructed their delegates to make sure that they maintained their
colonial ties. However, many leading Americans were not as
convinced by Common Sense as Rush and Franklin. Rebel John Adams
supported Paine’s notion of independence, but disagreed with his
proposed plans for government stating that it ‘was so democratical,
without any restraint or even an attempt at any equilibrium or
counterpoise, that it must produce confusion and every evil work’.
Adams was also distrustful of Paine himself, and claimed that he was
‘a star of disaster’ and that he was ignorant, foolish and a knave
hypocrite.19 Other American Loyalists ridiculed Paine, coining him
‘a crack brained zealot for democracy’ and a ‘violent republican’.20
Davidson also states that Adams believed that the ideas advocated in
18 Bailyn, B., The ideological Origins of the American Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992), p. 14219 Bailyn, The ideological Origins of the American Revolution, pp. 287-28820 Foner, E., Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (New York : Oxford University Press, 1976), pp. 120-121
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Common Sense were nothing new to the debate and were just a rewording
of works that frequently appeared in Continental Congress.21
Despite the negative criticisms of Common Sense, the work did have a
positive impact on many Americans. Paine’s most influential
critic, Adams, was even more convinced about the need for
independence after reading Common Sense. Adam’s wrote to Jefferson
stating that because of Common Sense ‘every post and every day rolls
us upon us independence like a torrent… History is to ascribe the
American Revolution to Thomas Paine’.22 Kind remarks from a major
critic of Paine. Paine’s pamphlet also gave impetus to the
passionate debate amongst Americans about independence from Britain.
Bailyn is of the opinion that the pamphlet was so inspiring for the
Americans as it contained enticing and iconoclastic rhetoric against
the English monarchy, the one last remaining link between Britain
and the colonies in early 1776. He states that the work was key to
convincing many Americans to adopt a pro-independence stance.23
Foner states that it would be foolish to argue that Common Sense
‘caused’ the movement if favour of American independence. It took
six months after its publication for Congress to approve the work
and formulate the Declaration of Independence. Common Sense,
however, articulated feelings that had been held by many Americans 21 Davidson, P., Propaganda and the American Revolution (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina, 1941), p.1422 Nelson, Thomas Paine: His Life, His Time and the Birth of Modern Nations, p. 93 23 Bailyn, The ideological Origins of the American Revolution, p. 285
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for some time, that the conflict with Britain over the right to
tax, the war with Britain, and the use of German mercenaries against
them would lead to a significant outcome for the thirteen colonies.
The work successfully debunked many arguments for reconciliation.
Common Sense was full of ideas that appealed to the common American
and was delivered at a time when public opinion was moving towards
the desire for independence. Despite not being the initial ‘cause’
of the movement for independence, Common Sense was key to persuading
many Americans to support independence rather than reconciliation
with Britain.24 Paine’s influence even reached leading figures
within the army: George Washington responded to a letter written by
General Charles Lee commenting that
The sound doctrine and unanswerable reasoning contained in the pamphlet Common Sense will not leave members [ of Congress] at a loss to decide upon the propriety of separation… [It is] working a wonderful change in the minds of many men.25
Extracts from American newspapers clearly show Paine’s influence on
ordinary Americans. The first is from a letter written under the
pseudonym ‘Essex’:
In your famous pamphlet entitled Common Sense, by which I am convinced of the necessity of Independence, to which I was before averse, you have givenliberty to every individual to contribute materials for that great building, the grand charter of American Liberty.26
24 Foner., Tom Paine and Revolutionary America, p. 8625 Nelson, Thomas Paine: His Life, His Time and the Birth of Modern Nations,p. 93 26 The New-York Journal 17 March 1776 (National Humanities Centre Resource ToolboxMaking the Revolution: America, 1763-1791)
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This second example is an extract of a letter from Maryland,
February 6, 1776:
If you know the author of COMMON SENSE, tell him he has done wondersand worked miracles.27
This last example is addressed to the ‘Author of the Pamphlet
entitled Common Sense’
Sir, in declaring your own, you have declared the sentiments of Millions. Your production may justly be compared to a land-flood that sweeps all before it. We were blind, but on reading these enlightening works the scales have fallen from our eyes28
Paine’s work was particularly influential in Philadelphia, inspiring
a movement led by the Scottish-Irish settlers in the western
counties who wanted to overthrow the loyalist and Quaker dominated
assembly and replace it with delegates who would push for
independence in Congress. They, somewhat naively, believed that
independence would allow them to gain universal suffrage which would
overturn the dominance of the American oligarchy.29 Common Sense was
nothing short of a divisive issue in Philadelphia. ‘Cato’ letters
appeared in the press and claimed to speak for the merchants and
landed aristocracy who still favoured maintaining their colonial
ties with Britain. These anonymous letters were believed to have 27 The Pennsylvania Evening Post, 13 Feb. 1776 (National Humanities Centre Resource ToolboxMaking the Revolution: America, 1763-1791)28 The New-London [Connecticut] Gazette, 22 March 1776 (National Humanities Centre Resource ToolboxMaking the Revolution: America, 1763-1791)29 Keane, Tom Paine: a political life, p. 129
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been written by Reverend Dr. William Smith, who falsely claimed that
‘nine tenths of the people of Pennsylvania yet abhor the doctrine’
of independence. Paine set upon trying to disprove Smith’s
arguments.30 Despite the Conservatives attempts, the Pennsylvanian
Assembly buckled to the radicals’ pressure and sent pro-independence
sympathisers to Congress, which can be seen as victories for both
Paine and America. In Congress, discussions for accepting
independence were progressing well, and Paine set about convincing
swing voters on the urgency for independence. Paine, had no real
input in formulating the Declaration of Independence, but his
influence had come six months earlier in the form of his Pamphlet
Common Sense.31
It is clear that Common Sense, despite having had its critics, was a
very influential document. Keane states that Common Sense was the
most important political document of the early phase of the American
Revolution as within a month of publication it had sold 500,000
copies. Keane likens the influence of this work to that of
Washington on the battlefield and Franklin on the diplomatic Front.32
He argues that Paine’s effective use of simplistic language allowed
uneducated Americans to fully grasp the arguments advocated. It was
abusive and seditious towards feudal, monarchical and clerical
30 Ibid, pp. 130-13131 Ibid, p. 13532 Ibid, p. 110
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institutions which many Americans had become distrustful of. The
work was also tailored to suit the mind set of Protestant dissenters
and contained many anti-Catholic sentiments.33 Ayer also states that
Common Sense can be viewed as a political success in that it
convinced a large number of Americans that they should settle for
nothing less than independence. It did not, however, give America a
military advantage. General Washington was on the defensive for
most of 1776 and soon after the ‘Declaration of Independence’ was in
signed July 1776 the Americans were forced to give up New York and
retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey. 34 Foner believes
that Paine’s occupation as the first professional pamphleteer in
America led to his popularity and his ability to popularise support
for the war within America.35 It is clear that Common Sense was very
influential in convincing the American rebels to accept
independence.
But what about Paine’s impact on the British Radical movement? The
British radical movement prior to Common Sense was largely grouped
into two factions: Christopher Wyvill’s moderate reformers and the
more radical ‘friends of Wilkes’. Wyvill led a group of
disillusioned country gentlemen who strove for the end of so-called
rotten boroughs and crown patronage.36 Wilkes, a charismatic and 33 Ibid, pp. 113-11434 Ayer., Thomas Paine, p. 4435 Foner., Tom Paine and Revolutionary America, p. xix36 Christie, I.R., ‘The Yorkshire Association, 1780-4: A Study in Political Organization’, in The Historical Journal, Vol.3, No.2 (1960), pp. 144–161
14
litigious individual, organised protests and rallies in support for
the Americans, and largely condemned the war effort against them.37
There is some evidence to suggest that Paine’s work was influential
in Britain. On December 1787, Paine was elected as honorary member
of the Society for Constitutional Information, founded by Major John
Cartwright, which was an emerging radical society committed to
Parliamentary reform. This society’s membership was small, due to
the hefty subscription of five guineas a year, but it suggests that
Paine had influenced radical societies in a positive way.38 However,
this only occurred eleven years after Common Sense was published.
Foner argues that Paine’s utopian image of America provided ‘working
class radicalism with its vocabulary, its standard of right and
wrong, its interpretation of the past and its hopes for the
future’.39 This, however, was only fully realised in the radical
movement during the French Revolution, and during the American
Revolution Paine’s impact was much less influential.
Paine’s Common Sense was one of a number of revolutionary pamphlets
mass-produced in London and was, by far, the most popular.40 Bonwick
states that, despite Common Sense being widely read in England, it
did not have a significant impact on the radical movement.41 He 37 Dickinson, H.T., ‘Our American Brethren: British Sympathizers with The American Colonists’ in Douglas Southall Freeman Historical Review Spring 1997, pg. 36 38 Bonwick, C., English Radicals and the American Revolution (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, c1977), p. 13539 Foner., Tom Paine and Revolutionary America, p. 26940 Bonwick., English Radicals and the American Revolution, pp. 39, 41,4441 Ibid, p. 44
15
states that this is due to the English publishers of the work such
as J. Almon Publishing, who omitted significant passages which were
deemed overly critical of the role of the monarchy, George III and
the government, to avoid being prosecuted. This resulted in much
of the meaning being lost and its influence therefore on British
radicals was not as significant as it should have been.42 Paine had
much more influence on the British Radical movement in the 1790s
than he had on the British radical movement at the time of the
American Revolution.43 Aldridge has estimated that twenty different
issues of Common Sense appeared in the British Isles in 1776 alone,
but then no new additions emerged until 1791. He also argues that
Common Sense was circulated in Britain at a time when revolutionary
texts were fashionable, and that its popularity may not necessarily
have had much to do with its merits.44
Common Sense did appear in some radical newspapers. A sizable
extract of Common Sense was published in the English based newspaper
London Evening Post on May 28, 1776 - May 30, 1776, but, as stated
earlier, most of the risqué passages were omitted. This might be
due to the paper having had a history of conflict with the British
government. Its former editor Richard Nutt, a fierce critic of the42 Ibid, p. 4143 Ibid, p. 22644 Aldridge, A.O., ‘The Influence of Thomas Paine in the United States of America, England, France, Germany, and South America’ in Friederich, W.P., (ed.) Comparative Literature: Proceedings of the Second Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association (New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1970), p. 372
16
government and a prominent radical, was found guilty of seditious
libel and sentenced to imprisonment, as well as being given a fine
and an order to stand in the pillory. The newspaper’s national
circulation was significantly reduced by a ban on distribution
through the Post Office at the time of the General Election of
1754.45 The General Evening Post, also based in London, published an
extract in June 1, 1776 - June 4, 1776. By the late 1770s
circulation of this newspaper was about 4,500.46 Despite this media
coverage, much of the meaning of Paine’s work was lost.
There is evidence that Paine influenced some radicals in an article
by Ximenes, published in London Evening Post from September 30, 1777 -
October 2, 1777:
Waving the idea of justice in our American War (a principle that may be converted) let us consider COMMON SENSE. Are not all Americans well acquainted with the depravity of this kingdom?... The time may come, when the veil of interest and prejudice is removed, that the present struggle will be deemed a just and noble effort to preserve the most inestimable blessings, their liberties…47
Paine’s pamphlet was also attacked by various sources within the
British Parliament. The Tory, James Chalmers, in his work entitled
Plain Truth, ironically Paine’s chosen title, defended the British
constitution by stating that it was ‘the pride and envy of mankind’
45 London Evening Post (London, England), May 28, 1776 - May 30, 1776; Issue 8455 (British Newspapers 1600-1900)46 General Evening Post (London, England), June 1, 1776 - June 4, 1776; Issue 6621(British Newspapers 1600-1900)47 General Evening Post (London, England), September 30, 1777 - October 2, 1777; Issue 8665 (British Newspapers 1600-1900)
17
and that it was a ‘beautiful system’. He also attacked Paine’s
views on human nature and the monarchy, by stating that without the
crown ‘our constitution would immediately degenerate into
democracy.’48
Wyvill rejected Paine’s ideas and even denied his involvement in the
radical movement altogether. Wyvill was repulsed by the so-called
horrendous idea to overturn the monarchical government system and
replace it with a popular, democratic government. He believed that
Paine’s ideas were damaging to his own movements goals.49 British
radicals at the time of the American Revolution largely consisted of
independent country gentlemen who opposed the British government on
issues such as high level of taxation, constituency boundaries and
ministerial corruption which existed in Royal patronage, placemen,
pensions and septennial elections. The individuals who held these
grievances were likely to have been appalled at the ideas
advocated in Common Sense.50
Paine’s Common Sense was also largely concerned with American issues,
and was written in such a way as to inspire Americans to revolt
against the British. Macleod states that Paine wrote of the
American Revolution not as an Englishmen but as an American and
therefore his involvement in the British reformer movement is 48 Bailyn., The ideological Origins of the American Revolution, pp. 287-28849 Bonwick., English Radicals and the American Revolution, p. 2250 Royle, E., Modern Britain: A Social History 1750-1997 (London: Arnold, 1997), p. 119
18
complicated. She states that British radicals such as Cartwright
and Priestly wrote their radical texts with Britain as their primary
problem and focus. Paine, however, was far more interested and
excited about the developments in America and the New World and was
disillusioned by the British and this is reflected in his works.51
Dickinson is of the opinion that British public opinion did not
fully accept Common Sense, due to the great lengths to which the
author had gone to abuse his native country. Many Britons from all
areas of society believed that the author had betrayed them and the
English constitution. Dickinson has also identified another
response to Common Sense originating in Britain. It was a pamphlet
entitled Reason, In answer to a pamphlet entituled, Common Sense (Dublin, 1776)
written by an Anglo-Irishman. This pamphlet defended the British
constitution and mixed government by hailing it the most superior
form of government. The pamphlet also rejected Paine’s ideas and
warned the colonists that if they followed Paine’s advice then they
would be at war with either each other or another European power.52
Perry also states that the ideas in Common Sense not only shocked the
British but terrified them53. It is, therefore, clear that Paine
51 Macleod, E.V., British Visions of America, 1775-1820 (London: Pickering & Chatto Publishers, 2013), pp. 9-10, 1352 Dickinson, H.T., ‘Thomas Paine and his British Critics’, Enlightenment and Dissent, 27 (2011), pp. 23-2453 Perry, K., British Politics and The American Revolution (Basingstoke: Macmillan Press LTD, 1990), p. 126
19
did not enthuse the British radicals in the way that he had done the
American Rebels.
Thomas Paine’s influence on the outcome of the American Revolution
was also strengthened due to his American Crisis Series which opens:
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and thesunshine patiot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and women.54
Davidson has argued that this propaganda series was the most
important contribution to the Revolutionary war and was written to
inspire American public opinion. Davidson states that Paine’s good
timing and shrewd writing made him one of the most influential
morale boosters during the war.55 General Washington was so
inspired after reading the first essay, he ordered that it should be
read to the troops at Valley Forge. Claeys is of the opinion that
American Crisis was instrumental in maintaining American support
throughout the War. By 1783, Paine had written sixteen essays from
an American perspective which helped boost morale in the
revolutionary war against Britain and he could finally proclaim
victory.56 He wrote in his final essay:
54 Foner, P.S., The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine vol. I (New York: The Citadel Press, 1969) ,p. 5055 Davidson, Propaganda and the American Revolution, p. 13956 Wilson, D.A., Paine and Cobbett: The Transatlantic Connection (Kingston: McGill-Queens’s University Press, 1988), p. 60
20
“The times that tried men souls,” are over – and the greatest and completest revolution the world has ever knew, gloriously and happily accomplished.57
The American Crisis was written for an American audience who were
hostile to Britain and, therefore, it had little impact on British
Radicals.
In conclusion, Americans prior to the publication of Common Sense
were wary of the idea of independence. The Colonial Assemblies
largely advocated reconciliation with Britain, fearing that
separation would endanger the nation from foreign aggression.
Paine’s simplistic choice of language, however, convinced Americans
from all walks of life to accept the notion of independence. Paine
was certainly not without his critics in America. Adams proclaimed
Paine ‘a crack brained zealot for democracy’. However, leading
America rebels Franklin and Washington were much more accepting of
Paine’s work. The American Crisis series was an excellent morale
booster for the American troops who were struggling with the on-
going conflict with the British tyrant.
In Britain however, Common Sense was not so enthusiastically accepted.
The moderate English country gentlemen reformers had an effective
leader in Wyvill, and they were repulsed at the notions advocated by
Paine. Wilkes was a charismatic individual who inspired the more
57 Foner, The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine vol. I, p. 230
21
radical British reformers and Paine’s ideas were overshadowed by
this. Paine’s work did appear in various radical newspapers, but
much of the controversial material was omitted. Paine’s work
during this period was also written for an American audience and
this goes a long way to explaining why Paine had little influence on
British Radicalism. Paine’s influence on the outcome of the
American Revolution was, therefore, undoubtedly greater than his
influence on the radical movement in Britain before 1783.
Word Count: 4,441
22
Bibliography
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23
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Macleod, E.V., British Visions of America, 1775-1820 (London: Pickering &
Chatto Publishers, 2013)
Perry, K., British Politics and The American Revolution (Basingstoke: Macmillan
Press LTD, 1990)
Royle, E., Modern Britain: A Social History 1750-1997 (London: Arnold, 1997)
Wilson, D.A., Paine and Cobbett: The Transatlantic Connection (Kingston:
McGill-Queens’s University Press, 1988)
Primary Sources
24
Foner, P.S., The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine Vols. I and II (New York: The
Citadel Press, 1969)
General Evening Post (London, England), September 30, 1777 - October 2,
1777; Issue 8665 (British Newspapers 1600-1900)
General Evening Post (London, England), June 1, 1776 - June 4, 1776;
Issue 6621 (British Newspapers 1600-1900)
London Evening Post (London, England), May 28, 1776 - May 30, 1776;
Issue 8455 (British Newspapers 1600-1900)
Paine. T., Common Sense (New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 1997)
The New-London [Connecticut] Gazette, 22 March 1776 (National Humanities
Centre Resource Toolbox Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791)
The New-York Journal 17 March 1776 (National Humanities Centre Resource
Toolbox Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791)
The Pennsylvania Evening Post, 13 Feb. 1776 (National Humanities Centre
Resource Toolbox Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791)
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