Two Hundredth Anniversary of Thomas Paine’s Death

‘WE HAVE IT IN OUR POWER TO BEGIN THE WORLD OVER AGAIN’

Bill WolfeThomas Paine – Bordentown, NJ

In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote a famous pamphlet called “Common Sense”. He was the father of the American Revolution. Few realize that Paine was the leader, Thomas Jefferson the follower. And political change came – as always – from the bottom up, not the top down – pretty embarrassing when the BBC has to educate us about our own history:
“In January 1776, only one third of the delegates to the Continental Congress [the political body of the American Revolution] were in favour of declaring independence from Britain,” says Cheryl Hudson, associate fellow at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University.
“Then, Paine published Common Sense which argued for immediate and complete separation of the colonies from the ‘mother country’. His visionary and uncompromising words captured the public imagination, and under pressure from the people, individual colonies began to instruct their delegates to vote for independence.”
Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence followed soon after”.
Check out the BBC’s article: Who was Thomas Paine?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8089115.stm
(more pictures on the flip)

Bill WolfeThomas Paine Bordentown, NJ

Bill WolfeThomas Paine – Bordentown, NJ