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Celebrate Thomas Paine Day!
“Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil.” -Thomas Paine, Common Sense
Nobody can deny the role Thomas Paine played in the birth of our nation. Encouraged and aided by his friend Benjamin Franklin, Paine arrived in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774. Just over a year later he had written the quintessential call to arms of the American Revolution. As poet and diplomat Joel Barlow noted, “Without the pen of Paine, Washington’s sword would have been wielded in vain.”
Well, next Monday marks the 200th anniversary of Thomas Paine’s death, and City Council has named the day in his honor. In addition, Moonstone and Drexel University are hosting a panel discussion with three of the world’s foremost Paine scholars–Eric Foner, Jack Fruchtman Jr., and Harvey J. Kaye–at six o’clock in the Mitchell Auditorium, on Market between 31st and 32nd streets. Visit Forgotten Founding Father for more information, and check back here next week for a recap if you’re unable to make it!
Written by administrator on 06/04/2009 in Blog | Event | History | Philadelphia | Philosophy | Politics
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