Thomas Paine Classic Collection

by Thomas Paine, Timeless Books (Editor)

The book has an active table of contents for easy access to each volume and section of the following

1.COMMON SENSE
2.THE AMERICAN CRISIS
3.RIGHTS OF MAN
4.THE AGE OF REASON
5.AGRARIAN JUSTICE
6.LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE

Thomas Paine was one of the founding fathers of the United States. He was also a political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary that is seen today in the row with the greatest thinkers such as John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.

Thomas Paine’s COMMON SENSE was published in 1776 at the right beginning of the American Revolution. COMMON SENSE was written and reasoned in a simple style to present a distinctly American political identity so that common people understood that American freedom from British rule was not a question but a needed immediate action.

Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis was published between 1776 and 1783 in a row. Paine convinced American people that the conflict of the Thirteen Colonies with Great Britain was between the good American devoted to civic virtue and the selfish provincial man. The independence was with common dissenting Protestant beliefs.

Thomas Paine’s RIGHTS OF MAN was published in 1791. Thomas Paine argued in the book that popular political revolution was permissible when a government was set to damage the natural rights of its people. Paine insisted human rights originated in Nature could not be granted via political charter and that the French Revolution should be understood as one that attacked the despotic principles of the French monarchy.

Thomas Paine’s THE AGE OF REASON; BEING AN INVESTIGATION OF TRUE AND FABULOUS THEOLOGY was published between 1794 and 1802 in a row. Thomas Paine challenged the institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the Bible as "an ordinary piece of literature rather than as a divinely inspired text". Paine called out what he saw as corruption of the Christian Church and criticized its efforts to acquire political power. He also promoted natural religion.

Agrarian Justice was published in the winter of 1795. In this last essay by Paine, he further developed the ideas in the Rights of Man about how land ownership separated the majority of people from their natural inheritance and means of independent survival. Paine's analysis of property rights made a distinct contribution to political theory. Agrarian Justice is also seen by The US Social Security Administration as the first American proposal for an old-age pension and basic income.

The collection is the source of Paine's political views that all pointe to a society based on the common good and individualism. It is also the source of Paine’s political experience and of observations of the societies of the United States, France, and Great Britain at a turning point.

On September 23, 2015 , Chinese President Xi Jinping, the powerful leader of the last and largest communist country in the world, visited the United States and claimed to American people that he enjoyed reading the books by Thomas Paine. Interestingly, this reminded American people that in 1800 Paine had a meeting with Napoleon in Paris. Napoleon also claimed he slept with a copy of Rights of Man under his pillow and told Paine that "a statue of gold should be erected to you in every city in the universe." However, Paine’s response to Napoleon’s progress towards dictatorship "the completest charlatan that ever existed".

Thomas Paine is forever remembered as a philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary. His theory still remains true and his spirit of hard core to challenge the establishments still inspires the young generations around the world for a better future.

This book is one of the most important ones about the thoughts of human rights, freedom, religions by Thomas Paine, one of the greatest thinkers of modern political philosophy on the plane

1836 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 12, 2015

About the author

Thomas Paine was an English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corset maker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination".

Born in Thetford, England, in the county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), the all-time best-selling American book that advocated colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–83), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. Common Sense was so influential that John Adams said, "Without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain."

Paine lived in France for most of the 1790s, becoming deeply involved in the French Revolution. He wrote the Rights of Man (1791), in part a defence of the French Revolution against its critics. His attacks on British writer Edmund Burke led to a trial and conviction in absentia in 1792 for the crime of seditious libel. In 1792, despite not being able to speak French, he was elected to the French National Convention. The Girondists regarded him as an ally. Consequently, the Montagnards, especially Robespierre, regarded him as an enemy.

In December 1793, he was arrested and imprisoned in Paris, then released in 1794. He became notorious because of his pamphlet The Age of Reason (1793–94), in which he advocated deism, promoted reason and freethinking, and argued against institutionalized religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular. He also wrote the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1795), discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income. In 1802, he returned to America where he died on June 8, 1809. Only six people attended his funeral as he had been ostracized for his ridicule of Christianity.

Reviews

[Doug Sleeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all who want an in-depth understanding of the "age of enlightenment" and the philosophical underpinnings of the French and American revolutions in the late 18th century. All three books are incredibly well written and give much food for thought about human nature and the relationship between people and governments.

The first in this series is Common Sense, which is full of just that. Well articulated discussions of the origin and structures of governments. In nearly every paragraph I felt as though he was bringing fresh air to a room full of smoke that must have permeated the times.

The second in the series is The Age of Reason challenges religion, specifically the Holy Bible and the inconsistencies it presents. But surprisingly, even though Thomas Paine presses hard against organized religions, I conclude that he is in fact quite a man of God. He just cannot see any logic or legitimacy among any of the organized religions.

The third book is The Rights of Man takes his philosophical ideas into the realm of governments. He discusses how inherited kingdoms and despotic rulers of the past could never survive in the long run, and that the only way to have a stable society in the long term is for the people to elect their own leaders, and for those leaders to be accountable to the people. He sums up the entire case for why the American revolution and constitution was not only necessary, but the most moral and sustainable form of successful governments.