Thomas
Paine statue in Norfolk, England. Shutterstock
photo
“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and
authority of reason, and whose philosophy in holding humanity in contempt, is
like administering medicine to the dead.”
– Thomas Paine
In 1980, when Ronald Reagan accepted his party's
nomination for president, he reminisced about our nation’s past and its
"shared values." He mentioned how far America had drifted from the
ethos of our founding of national unity, individual responsibility, with a
patriotic and a limited government. He called for a return to the spirit of
principles and ideas of Thomas Paine’s, “Common Sense.”
Of all our great founders whose ideas he wanted for
America, Ronald Reagan quoted the one who was not honored as a founder,
Thomas Paine. Although he inspired and unified the colonies with enlightenment
teachings, Paine was considered too radical to attend the Convention of 1787.
And his insight into our socio-political future was never reflected in the
writing of our Constitution.
In 1774, Ben Franklin told Thomas Paine he was needed in
the New World. Within months Paine was editor of the Philadelphia Magazine,
where he penned the ideals that unified the colonies and brought them to
revolt. Paine wrote, “America was in a crisis.” Until they had undivided unity,
they’d never become a nation.
“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”
– Thomas Paine
When Paine arrived in America, the colonies were unhappy
as servants to the crown. But they were content with what America gave them and
tolerated British abuse. When Paine wrote his pamphlet, “Common Sense” aka “The
American Crisis,” he wanted to alert the colonies: until they worked for the
collective good of a nation united under one flag, they’d always be in a state
of constant crisis.
In contrast, to many founders who were educated with
money and status, Paine was philistine and appealed to commoners. “Common
Sense” is considered the crucial tool used to bring the idea of sovereignty to
middle class colonials and challenged them to revolt.
“Without the pen of the author of 'Common Sense,' the
sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”
– John Adams
During the Revolution when Washington’s army was on the
verge of defeat, he asked Paine if he would read passages of “American Crisis”
to troops at Valley Forge. The genesis of Paine’s work was a copious
enlightenment theme of axioms that formulated the caliber of the American
Dream. Paine believed that unity and respect for the rights of man were the
only way society could survive.
If Paine had been at the Convention, our country would be
different today. They denied him entry since his wish-list to end slavery,
grant universal suffrage, and to establish a parliament that could be replaced
when they did not act in the people’s best interests were judged too radical at
the time.
“Let them call me a rebel, and I welcome it. I feel no
concern within my soul.”
– Thomas Paine
Reflecting back, Paine’s clairvoyance was uncanny. It
took decades for women to get the right to vote. Our republican democracy,
without the ability to issue a no-confidence vote for incompetent lawmakers,
has come back to haunt us since the first Congress met in 1789. It took a
bloody Civil War to end slavery, which resulted in a new crisis that took
another 100 years to bring to an end.
Confederate John Wilkes Booth planned to kidnap President
Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and take him to the Confederate capital,
Richmond, but his plot failed. So when he learned Lincoln would be at Ford
Theater on the eve of April 14, he shot him in the head and exclaimed, “The
South is now avenged.” Lincoln’s murder put pro-slavery Democrat Vice President
Andrew Johnson in charge of Reconstruction, which resulted in chaos and social
unrest that would haunt America for centuries!
Lincoln’s Republican Congress approved a Reconstruction
program that guaranteed political and civil rights for Southern blacks. But
when Johnson took office, he convinced the Democrats to block black suffrage
and civil rights programs. Johnson vetoed bills providing provisions for the
displaced slaves and military trials for those accused of violating the rights
of all black Americans. He vetoed the Republican Civil Rights Act of 1866 and
refused to sign the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.
Andrew Johnson continued to lobby Democrats to block all
Reconstruction programs. Instead of helping to assimilate former slaves into
society, he rebuilt the southern segregationist wing of the post war Democratic
Party. He allowed Democrats to manage their own Reconstruction programs, which
opened the door for them to replace the institution of slavery with the
institution of segregation.
“To deny a man the right to vote is to deny him the right
to protect his every right.”
– Thomas Paine
When Johnson urged Southern Democrats to boycott constitutional
conventions, Congress passed legislation empowering the military to initiate
conventions and override Democratic boycotts. Under the auspices of Northern
Republicans, by 1868 Congress readmitted seven Southern states, North and South
Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana, back into the
Union.
On Feb. 24, 1868, the House inevitably impeached Andrew
Johnson and filed 11 charges against him for violating the Tenure of Office Act
and the Command of the Army Acts and bringing disgrace to his office. But the
Senate failed to convict him by one vote and he avoided conviction. If our
nation had a parliamentary system, as Thomas Paine had proposed, a prime
minister who lost the support of the legislature could have been simply removed
from office by a no confidence vote.
The racism of Andrew Johnson and his refusal to enforce
legislation to acclimate former slaves into American society enabled southern
Democrats to deny the rights of black Americans and chattel them into second
class citizenship. It took 100 years of blood, sweat and tears to finish the
tenants of Republican Reconstruction that Lincoln had already approved. If
Thomas Paine had been invited to the Convention, we could have abolished
slavery in 1787 and changed the course of our history.
Thomas Paine told us, “Character is much easier kept than
recovered.” Paine is considered one of our greatest Enlightenment thinkers.
Since he came from the working class he knew their problems and how to remedy
them. He was a self educated brilliant writer and thinker who foresaw the
future and passionately alerted others of the necessity to correct
socio-political problems expeditiously, or face the consequences in the future.
“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.”
– Thomas Paine
Why does history repeat itself: Because we don’t profit
from our mistakes. We’ve spent years trying to correct the sins of our past.
But without education and civic leaders demanding teachers instruct our youth
“true American history,” students will grow up unaware who created their
problems and who has always tried to remedy them. As a result, we’ll always
have people who continue to blame the wrong people for their failures and
admire those who caused them. Until they know their history and take responsibility
for their actions, they will always be a liability and never an asset to
society; because:
“Reason obeys itself and ignorance submits to whatever is
dictated to it.”
– Thomas Paine
Contributing Columnist William Haupt III is a retired
professional journalist, author, and citizen legislator in California for over
40 years. He got his start working to approve California Proposition 13.
