Review of the book:
Thomas Paine: America's First Liberal
by S.M. Berthold
Carter G. Woodson
[Reprinted from
The Journal of Negro History, Vol.23, No.4 (October, 1938),
pp.487-489. This book was published in 1938 by meador Publishing
Company. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950 was the founder of The
Journal of Negro History]
The reviewer was a mature man before he ever learned much about
Thomas Paine. Against this great man the reviewer had been
prejudiced by the orthodox sermons delivered periodically by a
highly trained Negro preacher who during his seminary course had
learned to belabor all so-called atheists and infidels. Especially
were Thomas Paine and Robert G. Ingersoll the objects of his wrath.
Becoming interested in history later, the reviewer was surprised
that men of this type were ardent advocates of liberty even when it
meant the freedom of the Negro. It became clear then that in their
exposure of the sham and hypocrisy of the clergy, especially that of
the Anglican Church in Paine's day, these lovers of liberty
denounced as hypocrites those who preached Christ and Him crucified
on Sunday and during the week practiced the devil and him glorified
by espousing the cause of the oppressors of the people.
As a worker for freedom Thomas Paine belongs in the class with
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who also contended that
slavery was an evil. George Washington himself once said, "By
private letters which I have lately received from Virginia I find
that Common Sense is working a powerful change there in the minds of
many men. Thus his Common Sense and many of his Crisis
were well timed, as none, I believe, who will turn to the epochs at
which they were published, will deny."
Thomas A. Edison said that Paine was the equal of Washington in
making American liberty possible. "Where Washington performed,
Paine devised and wrote." John Adams said, "History is to
ascribe to Paine the Revolution. Washington's sword would have been
wielded in vain, had it not been supported by the pen of Paine."
Edmund Burke referred to Common Sense as "that celebrated
pamphlet which prepared the mind of the people for Independence."
Parker Pillsbury said, "Without his Common Sense, written in
1775, we should not have had the Declaration of Independence in
1776. " "Some wise men believe Thomas Paine the author of
the Declaration of Independence. That probably cannot be proved. But
whoever has read Common Sense and Crises will not
doubt that he could have written every word of it. And whoever reads
his Rights of Man can easily believe that he might have
written the Constitution of the United States also -- all but its
Slavery Compromise, to which he would never have set his hand, --
never!" Of him Robert G. Ingersoll said, "I challenge the
world to show that Thomas Paine ever wrote one line, one word, in
favor of tyranny, -- in favor of immorality; one line, one word,
against what he believed to be for the highest and best interest of
mankind; one line, one word, against justice, charity or liberty. "
But let Thomas Paine speak for himself. In contradistinction to
Franklin who said, "Where liberty is, there is my country,"
Paine said, "Where liberty is not, there is my home." This
was his spirit. To this ideal he lived up. When the independence of
this country had been won he went to France to assist in the
struggle for liberty there. He said, "When in countries that
are called civilized, we see age going to the workhouse, and youth
to the gallows, something must be wrong in the system of government."
"The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most
ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind. Despotic
government supports itself by abject civilization, in which
debasement of the human mind, and wretchedness in the mass of the
people, are the chief criterions."
Be it said to the credit of Paine that, although he drank brandy
freely, he exposed hypocrisy and worked for the triumph of the
principles advanced by Jesus of Nazareth. He said, "The people
of France were running headlong into Atheism, and I had the work
translated in their own language to stop them in that career and fix
them in the first article of every man's creed who has any creed at
all -- I believe in God." "I believe in one God and no
more, and I hope for happiness beyond this life -- I believe in the
equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist of
doing justice, loving mercy, and in endeavoring to make our fellow
creatures happy." "And when the Almighty shall have
blessed us and made us a people dependent only in Him, then may our
first gratitude be shown by an act of continental legislation, which
shall put a stop to the importation of Negroes for sale, soften the
hard fate of those already here, and in time procure their freedom."
Thomas Paine was born in England January 29, 1737. He was of Quaker
ancestry. He did not adhere to such doctrines, and he never joined
any church. Paine served in various capacities. When down and out in
England he met Benjamin Franklin whom he favorably impressed. With
Franklin he came to Philadelphia in 1774. At first he supported
himself there by contributing articles for newspapers. In these
articles he advocated the abolition of slavery and the recognition
of woman's rights. Next he came out on January 10, 1776, under an
assumed name with his Common Sense in which he advocated the
immediate declaration of independence of this country. In various
newspapers he kept up the advocacy and joined the army of patriots.
Paine was appointed by the Continental Congress as the secretary to
its Committee on Foreign Affairs, but had to leave the position
because of the trouble in the Beaumarchais affair. He then became
clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly, while continuing his newspaper
writing, especially through the Crisis. Next he went with John
Laurens to France. He then alternated between England and France and
participated in publicity with respect to the French Revolution. He
became a citizen of that country and was elected to the French
Assembly. His party was later overthrown by the new faction which
got control of the convention, deprived him of his citizenship, and
imprisoned him. He was released some time thereafter when claimed by
James Mon- roe as an American citizen.
Returning to this country, he led the life of a friendless man. The
religious element whose hypocrisy he had exposed in his Age of
Reason, branded him everywhere as an infidel and made it
difficult for him to find position or friends. He died in New York
City June 8, 1809. In spite of all his shortcomings, Paine was a man
of great intellect, and he used his powers in behalf of freedom and
equality for all. He was really America's first liberal.
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