Take a photo of a barcode or cover
dinsdale 's review for:
Thomas Paine's Rights of Man
by Christopher Hitchens
What could be better than reading the eloquent Christopher Hitchens's writings about the underappreciated founding father of America, Thomas Paine? Well, since I listened to it on Audible it would've been better if Hitch had narrated it back when he wrote it. The narrator, Simon Vance, was excellent and has a pleasant English accent so after a while I pretended I was listening to Hitch.
Paine emigrated from England to America in 1774. This is a short biography which focused mostly on Paine's life during the American and French Revolutions, further focusing on Paine's famous book Rights of Man written in 1791 which, at a high level, opined that people are born with human rights at birth and the government's only purpose is to safeguard these rights; and if the government does not uphold the rights of its people revolution is justified. This book was written as a response to a publication by Edmund Burke which attacked the French revolution during this time. Having been instrumental in America's revolution and resulting government, he was very supportive of France's effort and made numerous trips to France after the American revolution to support the cause.
Any American school kid knows that Paine was instrumental in rousing support for the American revolution. His book Common Sense was published in January 1776, and it attacked the British monarchy and outlined reasons for a free country took the Colonies by storm and whipped up support for the revolution which had just started.
While in France supporting their revolution Paine was arrested and imprisoned for almost a year by the French government who rejected his American citizenship and claimed he was an Englishman by birth and therefore technically at war with France. After being released from prison in 1794 through the assistance of new American representative in France, James Monroe, he wrote my favorite of his books, The Age of Reason. This masterpiece was years ahead of its time. In it Paine takes on organized religion and the very legitimacy of the Bible. Paine pointed out how wrongly powerful the christian churches had become and pointed out that the Bible was a man-made creation and not a production of any divine entity, nor influenced by one, and he rejected all miracles. Paine was a deist. For an 18th century writer to demolish organized religion, especially Christianity, and miraculous beliefs so effectively was really impressive (many decades before Robert Ingersoll took the baton), and this book was also a hit amongst American citizens and resulted in growth in deism. The Age of Reason is a fantastic work, and Hitchens devotes a good deal of time relating examples of Paine's train of thought on a number of religious subjects and explaining how influential this was for its time, when most citizens were under the yoke of religion and accepted miraculous beliefs without question.
Hitchens' book ends with a conclusion which talks of Paine's legacy. He gradually withdrew from society but would pop up to support causes he believed in like the expansion of the US west and the fight against slavery. Paine died at home in great pain. On his death bed, he sent away two Presbyterian ministers who showed up uninvited and pushed past his housekeeper to try to convince Paine to accept Jesus Christ and save himself. Hitchens states, "thus he expired with his reason and his rights both still staunchly defended until the very last". Paine has no burial site. His corpse was dug up in 1819 and parts of him were reportedly taken to different places. This is a story in itself.
In February 2022, Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland along with eight of his House colleagues, introduced legislation to authorize the construction of a memorial in Washington DC for Paine.
Raskin's statement: “Tom Paine was a person so far ahead of his time that his work still challenges us in significant ways today to build a more democratic society. This luminary patriot of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution inspired people in the colonies not only to overthrow the tyranny of faraway kings but to launch a nation founded on principles of democratic self-government, the rights of men and of women, and reason and science. Despite his catalytic role in founding America and our constitutional republic, Paine remains too often on the dark outskirts of history. It is way past time for Congress to give Paine the central place of respect and awe he deserves in our Nation’s Capital. This memorial to Paine—amazingly, already pre-funded with a flood of voluntary contributions and pledges from private citizens—will be a powerful and dramatic addition to the symbolic life of Washington, D.C.”
Paine emigrated from England to America in 1774. This is a short biography which focused mostly on Paine's life during the American and French Revolutions, further focusing on Paine's famous book Rights of Man written in 1791 which, at a high level, opined that people are born with human rights at birth and the government's only purpose is to safeguard these rights; and if the government does not uphold the rights of its people revolution is justified. This book was written as a response to a publication by Edmund Burke which attacked the French revolution during this time. Having been instrumental in America's revolution and resulting government, he was very supportive of France's effort and made numerous trips to France after the American revolution to support the cause.
Any American school kid knows that Paine was instrumental in rousing support for the American revolution. His book Common Sense was published in January 1776, and it attacked the British monarchy and outlined reasons for a free country took the Colonies by storm and whipped up support for the revolution which had just started.
While in France supporting their revolution Paine was arrested and imprisoned for almost a year by the French government who rejected his American citizenship and claimed he was an Englishman by birth and therefore technically at war with France. After being released from prison in 1794 through the assistance of new American representative in France, James Monroe, he wrote my favorite of his books, The Age of Reason. This masterpiece was years ahead of its time. In it Paine takes on organized religion and the very legitimacy of the Bible. Paine pointed out how wrongly powerful the christian churches had become and pointed out that the Bible was a man-made creation and not a production of any divine entity, nor influenced by one, and he rejected all miracles. Paine was a deist. For an 18th century writer to demolish organized religion, especially Christianity, and miraculous beliefs so effectively was really impressive (many decades before Robert Ingersoll took the baton), and this book was also a hit amongst American citizens and resulted in growth in deism. The Age of Reason is a fantastic work, and Hitchens devotes a good deal of time relating examples of Paine's train of thought on a number of religious subjects and explaining how influential this was for its time, when most citizens were under the yoke of religion and accepted miraculous beliefs without question.
Hitchens' book ends with a conclusion which talks of Paine's legacy. He gradually withdrew from society but would pop up to support causes he believed in like the expansion of the US west and the fight against slavery. Paine died at home in great pain. On his death bed, he sent away two Presbyterian ministers who showed up uninvited and pushed past his housekeeper to try to convince Paine to accept Jesus Christ and save himself. Hitchens states, "thus he expired with his reason and his rights both still staunchly defended until the very last". Paine has no burial site. His corpse was dug up in 1819 and parts of him were reportedly taken to different places. This is a story in itself.
In February 2022, Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland along with eight of his House colleagues, introduced legislation to authorize the construction of a memorial in Washington DC for Paine.
Raskin's statement: “Tom Paine was a person so far ahead of his time that his work still challenges us in significant ways today to build a more democratic society. This luminary patriot of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution inspired people in the colonies not only to overthrow the tyranny of faraway kings but to launch a nation founded on principles of democratic self-government, the rights of men and of women, and reason and science. Despite his catalytic role in founding America and our constitutional republic, Paine remains too often on the dark outskirts of history. It is way past time for Congress to give Paine the central place of respect and awe he deserves in our Nation’s Capital. This memorial to Paine—amazingly, already pre-funded with a flood of voluntary contributions and pledges from private citizens—will be a powerful and dramatic addition to the symbolic life of Washington, D.C.”