Texts by Thomas Paine

• Common Sense
• The Crisis
• Age of Reason
  

Resources about Thomas Paine

1. Price, Harry T. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 43: AmericanNewspaper Journalists, 1690-1872. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Perry J. Ashley, University of South Carolina. The Gale Group, 1985. pp. 338- 347. Accessed June 8, 2007.
This resource is a most informative sketch about the life and times of Thomas Paine. It talks about his life and the contributions he made to the American Revolution. This article is helpful in understanding the American enlightenment because it provides background and information on one of the movement’s most important players.

2. US Independence Hall Association. Jul 95 Thomas Paine “These are the times that try men’s souls”. 9 June 2007 http://www.ushistory.org/paine/index.htm
The designer of this website, Thomas E. Kindig, states his main point as examining “the roots of constitutional government in the United States and around the world” (Kindig). He works with a group of people to help bring information to the website. The author of this period I will examine is Thomas Paine. It is important to read about Paine because he helped build the foundation of the American Revolution. Through his publication of Common Sense, he stressed the importance of building “a strong defense of American Independence from England”. His writing is critical in our study of American Literature in the Enlightenment period because his belief of a strong independent nation was needed. This resource was helpful in my study of literature which is entwined with background information about the important liberators of the 18th century. Thomas Paine’s role as a renown writer helped form our government. I give credit to this website for sharing the information of history. Kindig website is associated with the Independence Hall Association, an independent group who spearheaded the Independence National Historical Park.

3. Claeys, Gregory. Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought. Boston: Routledge, 1989. Mesa Community College ebrary. 15 June 2007 <http://site.ebrary.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/lib/mesa/Top?channelName=mesa&cpage=1&docID=10017726&f00=text&frm=smp.&hitsPerPage=10&layout=document&p00=thomas+paine&sortBy=score&sortOrder=desc>.
The main purpose of this website is to discuss the life and times of Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine is an important person to know about because his works are still known and studied today. During his life, his writings were read by more men and women than any other political author in history. Thomas Paine sowed the seeds of revolution in Britain in the early 1790s, and his writing’s showed how people of the time felt. This is why his writing’s are critical to an understanding of the literary period. This resource is helpful in reading and interpreting the author because it is full on information about him. The website is credible because the author if clearly indicated.

4.Tushnet, Mark. "Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations.(Book review)." The Historian 70.1 (Spring 2008): 118(3). Academic OneFile. Gale. Mesa Community College. 9 June 2008
<http://find.galegroup.com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>. Thomas Paine is known as the “forgotten father” since he helped lead the United States into a country but is not given actually credit for it, because he was not very well liked. He fought beside George Washington and wrote pamphlets to American independence support. According to this article Paine would write in terms that the conmen person could understand. This website is very useful because it gives a list of some of Paine’s writings along with the story of his live. The website also gave a better understanding of the Enlightenment period which helped to understand the Enlightenment period. Mark Tushnet is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law as well as a scholar of constitutional law and legal history, which makes him creditable considering most of the Enlightenment period, was about changing the world and the constitution.

5. Lurie, Maxine N. “Thomas Paine.” Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries. 16 June 2008. < https://web-ebscohost-com.ezp.mc.maricopa.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=8&sid=5812f693-613e-4ecf-8894-6c24aa1bf64d%40sessionmgr8 >
Thomas Paine was born in England in 1737. Though he was apprenticed as a slay maker, like his father, he was not happy with this profession. He spent time teaching and later became an excise collector. His employment was terminated in 1772 after he published a pamphlet, The Case of the Officers of the Excise, which argued for higher wages. In 1774, Paine moved to America. He settled in Philadelphia and became the editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine. During this time, England and the colonies were disputing the taxation and representation issue. Paine wrote Common Sense in January 1776; the book criticized the king of England and promoted the colonies’ independence. Soon the Revolutionary War was underway and Paine became a leading advocate of American Independence. During the war, Paine wrote the Crisis papers, a total of 16, to help encourage Americans to support the war effort. After the war, Paine moved to France to pursue funding for additional projects and later became embroiled in the politics of the French Revolution. Because of his association with English-speakers and the educated class he was arrested. Paine was later granted his freedom after James Monroe appealed for his release. He returned to American in 1802 and continued to write political pamphlets. Paine died in 1809. This source is from MagillOnHistory, a database accessible through MCC’s library; therefore, it is a reliable source.
9. Wood, Gorodon S.. Revolutionary Characters : What Made the Founders Different. New York: Penguin Group, 2006. Digital.

This book is published by Penguin, which is a renowned publisher. I accessed it through the MCC Ebrary site. It has chapters dedicated to several different people, including Thomas Paine. The book points out that Paine would have considered himself to be one of the founding fathers of this country, but that not may would recognize him as such, despite the fact that he was one of the most attention getting figures of the time. He represented the Enlightenment period well because he thought people should have enjoyable lives, rather than feel that they were powerless to achieve happiness.