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  • Thomas Paine: Crusader for Liberty An Adventure in the History of Ideas

Thomas Paine: Crusader for Liberty An Adventure in the History of Ideas

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“And the  noise outside was the ringing of revolution”-- Phil  Ochs

“That some desperate wretches should be  willing to steal and enslave menby violence and murder for gain is..contrary to  the light of nature [and] toevery principle of Justice and  Humanity…

“Too many nations enslaved prisoners they  took in war.  But to go tonations  with whom there is no war, who have no way provoked...purely to catchinoffensive people, like beasts, for slaves, is [the] height of outrage…[So]many evils [attend] the practice, as selling husbands away from wives,children  from parents, and from each other, in violation of sacred and naturalties…

“If the slavery of the parents be unjust,  much more is their children’s…[since] the children are born free...Certainly,  one may, with as much reasonand decency, plead for murder, robbery, lewdness  and barbarity, as forthis practice.”-- Thomas  Paine, as quoted by the author in THOMAS PAINE: CRUSADER FORLIBERTY

THOMAS  PAINE: CRUSADER FOR LIBERTY is a mind-blowing read. Mr. Paine wasan  exceptionally complex character.  Thanks to his game-changing writings,both prior to and during the  American Revolution, he is one of the mostimportant men behind the successful  revolt of the American colonies and thesubsequent formation of the United State  of America.  Reading his passionateanti-slavery quote, one could argue that he had his head on a lot straighter than some of the more famous Founding Fathers.

Paine’s  best-known writing is a pamphlet that changed the world that wastitled Common Sense.

“The  appearance of Common Sense marked a  turning point in two ways.Though  he had not realized it when he began writing, the pamphlet ended Paine’svoyage  of self-discovery.  For it gave him  a mission he could neverabandon.  ‘I know but one kind of life I am fit for,’ he wrote, ‘and that is athinking one, and, of course, a writing one.’  Paine became an author with amission,  an unswerving champion of liberty for all people.  Above all, hegot people to think.  As he put it, ‘I am a Farmer of  thoughts.’

“Common Sense changed political writing,  too.  Until its appearance,authors  aimed at influencing only the educated elite.  Books had such titles asThe Rights of the English Colonies and  The Genuine Principles of theEnglish  Constitution.  Authors argued  calmly, politely, sprinkling their pageswith Latin quotations from learned  authorities.  Paine did not wish towrite in this way, nor could he.  He  wrote for the common people, those likehim.  To influence them, he had to grab their  attention by appealing to theirintelligence and to their  emotions.”

But his  writings subsequent to the American Revolution left him as a manboth shunned  and abhorred by friends and countrymen, as well as so many inBritain and  France.  These writings include THE  RIGHTS OF MAN (relating, inlarge part, to the French Revolution) and THE AGE OF  REASON (in which heforcefully attacks organized  religion).

The most  heady portion of this biography is the war of words andphilosophies between  Paine and his former friend, British Parliament member EdmundBurke, who wrote  REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE.  I’ve many timesseen Burke quoted in historic and legal texts but, as  with Paine, never knewmuch about him until now.  The enduring significance of Burke’s and  Paine’s conflicting philosophies and writings, which is explained by AlbertMarrin, makes this thought-provoking book well-suited and exceptionally valuable for middle school and high school American history  students.“‘These  are the times that try men’s souls.’”

-- from  THE AMERICAN CRISIS by Thomas PaineMarrin  sprinkles into this mix so many interesting details.  For instance,readers will come away  knowing the genesis of the political terms “the left” and “the right” and where  the phrase “reading them the riot act” comesfrom.  They will certainly gain a better  perspective of the FoundingFathers.

Above  all, young people will learn about the complicated life of and thisimportant  and very human Farmer of thoughts.

978-0-385-38605-0   176 pages   Ages  9-13

Recommended by:  Richie  Partington, MLIS, Librarian, California USA

See more of his recommendations:  Richie's  Picks  (https://richiespicks.com/)

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