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Common Sense, the Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of ThomasPaine

Author Thomas Paine

Foreword by Jack Fruchtman Jr.

Introduction by Sidney Hook

Mass Market Paperback

$6.95 US

Berkley / NAL | Signet

4.19"W x 6.75"H x 1.04"D (10.6 x 17.1 x 2.6 cm) | 7 oz (206 g) | 48 per carton

On sale Jul 01, 2003 | 416 Pages | 978-0-451-52889-6

| Grades 6-12 + AP/IB

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Classics > Classic Nonfiction
Nonfiction > Politics > Domestic Politics

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A volume of Thomas Paine's most essential works, showcasing one of American history's most eloquent proponents of democracy.

Upon publication, Thomas Paine’s modest pamphlet Common Sense shocked and spurred the foundling American colonies of 1776 to action. It demanded freedom from Britain—when even the most fervent patriots were only advocating tax reform. Paine’s daring prose paved the way for the Declaration of Independence and, consequently, the Revolutionary War. For “without the pen of Paine,” as John Adams said, “the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain.”

Later, his impassioned defense of the French Revolution, Rights of Man, caused a worldwide sensation. Napoleon, for one, claimed to have slept with a copy under his pillow, recommending that “a statue of gold should be erected to [Paine] in every city in the universe.”

Here in one volume, these two complete works are joined with selections from Pain's other major essays, “The Crisis,” “The Age of Reason,” and “Agrarian Justice.”

Includes a Foreword by Jack Fruchtman Jr.
and an Introduction by Sidney Hook

“Without...Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain.”—John Adams

Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England, in 1737, the son of a staymaker. He had little schooling and worked at a number of jobs, including tax collector, a position he lost for agitating for an increase in excisemen’s pay. Persuaded by Benjamin Franklin, he emigrated to America in 1774. In 1776 he began his American Crisis series of thirteen pamphlets, and also published the incalculably influential Common Sense, which established Paine not only as a truly revolutionary thinker, but as the American Revolution’s fiercest political theorist. In 1787 Paine returned to Europe, where he became involved in revolutionary politics. In England his books were burned by the public hangman. Escaping to France, Paine took part in drafting the French constitution and voted against the king’s execution. He was imprisoned for a year and narrowly missed execution himself. In 1802 he returned to America and lived in New York State, poor, ill and largely despised for his extremism and so-called atheism (he was in fact a deist). Thomas Paine died in 1809. His body was exhumed by William Cobbett, and the remains were taken to England for a memorial burial. Unfortunately, the remains were subsequently lost. View titles by Thomas Paine

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Common Sense, Rights of Man, and Other Essential Writings of Thomas PaineForeword
Introduction
COMMON SENSE

Introduction
Of the origin and design of government in general
Of monarchy and hereditary succession
Thoughts on the present state of American affairs
Of the present ability of America
Appendix

The Crisis
Number I
Number III (Selections)
Number IV (Selections)
Number V
Number VII (Selections)
Number VIII (Selections)
Number XIII

Rights of Man
Part the First
Prefaces: To the French Edition; To the English Edition
Rights of Man
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens
Observations on the Declaration of Rights
Miscellaneous Chapter
Conclusion

Part the Second: Combining Principles and Practice
Preface
Introduction
Chapter I: Of Society and Civilization
Chapter II: Of the Origin of the Present Old Governments
Chapter III: Of the Old and New Systems of Government
Chapter IV: Of Constitutions
Chapter V: Ways and Means of Improving the Conditions of Europe, Interspersed with Miscellaneous Observations (Selections)

The Age of Reason
Part One (Selections)

Agrarian Justice (Selections)

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