Thomas Paine

           There was once a child born in England. He was a Paine, but he wasn’t a pain. However, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t experience pain. This guy, after much failure, went on to become one of the greatest and most talented writers that the world has ever known. Without Thomas Paine, there would be no America. He took writing to the next level—he didn’t write because he was assigned to, or because he wanted to obtain fame. Thomas Paine used his talent to inspire Americans and to inspire the world. Paine helped a dying nation to stay alive. However, it didn’t start that way.

            In England, things should have gone well for Paine. He had a bright mind, and his family wasn’t that poor. His father had great expectations for him. Despite these factors, Paine failed out of school when he was only twelve years old. After this, he decided to become an apprentice to his father (who was a corsetmaker) but even then, Paine failed again. He couldn’t learn or do the trade, so at age nineteen, Paine set out to sail the sea.

            Well, that didn’t last too long. Paine eventually (and very fortunately) found himself as a tax officer for Great Britain. At this point in his life, Paine finally began to realize his talent for writing. He wrote over and over, slowly growing better and even excelling at the subject. Although the pen was at his command, Paine didn’t exactly shine as a tax officer. He was discharged multiple times from his post from being absent without permission, but he managed to keep his job. Apparently, Paine didn’t think he was getting paid enough, because he wrote The Case of the Officers of Excise in 1772, which was an argument to raise pay for tax officers in England.

            Nothing seemed to be going Paine’s way. He was struggling financially (because his job didn't pay well; he wanted a better one), and his writing wasn’t doing anything for him. He kept his eye out for job opportunities, but without an education and without a trade, not much was coming to him. This situation stayed with Paine until 1774, when, by some miraculous happenstance, Thomas Paine became acquainted with Benjamin Franklin in London. Franklin “took Paine under his wing," in a sense, and helped Paine move to Philadelphia.

            It was pretty much all uphill from there for Thomas Paine, at least for a while. He found many opportunities to become a journalist in Philadelphia, so his career turned to journalism. Suddenly, with his exceptional writing talent, Thomas Paine became very important to the cause of freedom. In 1776, Paine published Common Sense, which was arguably his best work. It wasn’t only genius, but it made a difference in American society. This brilliant pamphlet stressed the importance of independence from England, and it certainly played a great role in the fight for independence. Common Sense also argued for a republican form of government on a written constitution, and that would eventually make an impact on the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

            However, this wasn’t enough for Thomas Paine. He was so illuminated with the cause of freedom that he enlisted as a soldier in the continental army. Once again, though, he wasn't very good at a job that wasn't writing. Paine found himself an awful soldier, so he decided to go back to writing. Paine saw the suffering of the continental army, and he knew that the army wouldn’t last very long unless they were motivated or inspired by some force. In the midst of this, Paine wrote The American Crisis, which served its purpose well. Without this pamphlet, many soldiers of the United States would not have fought for their country. Many of the soldiers were not sufficiently paid, sheltered, or even fed. Not many Americans would have been willing to go through all of that torture for their country had it not been for Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis. This pamphlet was so popular that the percentage of the population of Americans that read it was greater than the percentage of the population of Americans today that watch the Super Bowl.

            At the height of his career, however, Thomas Paine decided to pursue other interests in Europe. Paine was not as successful or fortunate there. Years later, Paine found himself in France writing The Rights of Man, which responded to criticism of the French Revolution. This writing eventually led Paine to be unjustly imprisoned in France. While in prison, Paine wrote The Age of Reason, which argued many deist views. Paine’s religious beliefs differed a little bit from most Americans’ religious views, and as a result of this, Paine became less popular in the United States. Paine, as a deist, questioned the divinity of the Bible and the existence of modern revelation. In 1794, Paine narrowly escaped execution in France, thanks to James Monroe, who was a minister there. As a minister, Monroe helped to free Paine.

            Paine stayed in France until 1802, when he was invited by Thomas Jefferson to return to the United States. Paine accepted the invitation, but upon returning to America, he quickly realized the decrease of his popularity in America. Paine was abandoned by his friends and mocked by the public, so instead of writing more, Paine settled down in New York and passed away in 1809.

            What can we learn from Thomas Paine’s life here, over two-hundred years later? Three main principles come to my mind. First: One can bless others more efficiently when using his own individual God-given talents and gifts. Thomas Paine tried everything. He tried to go to school, he tried to learn a trade, he tried to be a sailor, and he even tried to be a soldier. However, he blessed others when he wrote. Writing was his strongest (and maybe only) talent. Because Thomas Paine wrote, he blessed others. When we find our individual God-given talents, we can bless others much more efficiently.

            We can also learn from Thomas Paine that there is always an enemy. As long as there is an adversary, you will always be persecuted for your religious views. Thomas Paine was a deist. He was persecuted fiercely because of that, but he never recanted. He stayed strong to what he believed. Nobody is perfect, but as long as we stay strong to our beliefs, we will be blessed, whether those blessings come now or later. There will always be opposition.

            Finally, through Thomas Paine, we learn the significance of freedom and agency. If you look through Thomas Paine’s life, you must realize that the only time when he was truly successful was when he was in America. America is the only nation on Earth that holds the blueprint for success and freedom. Without America, Thomas Paine wouldn’t have had nearly as much opportunity as he did to pursue his talents. America is literally “the land of opportunity” and “the land of the free”. There can be no success or growth without freedom or agency.

            Thomas Paine had a hard life, but he changed the world through his writing. He is significant to mankind because he helped to bring freedom into the world, and without that freedom, mankind could very well be non-existent right now. Without Thomas Paine, America wouldn’t be free, and without a free America, you and I would be doomed to destruction. Thomas Paine made a difference in this world by helping to pave the way of freedom.