Thomas Paine was born in England February 9, 1737. Paine Day needs to be celebrated as a national holiday everywhere to reflect the international impact of this forgotten founding father. His birthday should be widely celebrated as a day to recognize the international origins and impact of the American and French Revolutions. This year you can celebrate the event with the Florida Veterans for Common Sense. Take a look:

Florida Veterans for Common Sense will honor American Patriot Thomas Paine at our annual Paine birthday celebration dinner. Celebrants will enjoy a delicious dinner and join in honoring our Thomas Paine Award winner Desmond Meade, who was instrumental in the passage of the recent Florida Constitutional Amendment to restore voting rights to felons, after they have completed their sentence.

Our guest speaker for the evening will be Col. Andrew Bacevich, Sr. (USA Ret.). He holds a PH.D. in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University, and taught at West Point and Johns Hopkins University before joining the faculty at Boston University.

Bacevich will speak about current foreign policy. He argues that our current foreign policy debate is short-sighted and ahistorical. Instead of blaming one president, or party, for contemporary policy he sees both Republicans and Democrats as sharing responsibility for policies that may not be in America’s best interest.

Celebrants will enjoy the sounds of the Pineview School Jazz Quartet during the evening. After ticket purchase please advise if you want a vegan meal. Send email to: DaveSiegwald@gmail.com

Born in the United Kingdom, Paine was a revolutionary advocate of democracy in the American and French Revolutions. His life cannot be summed up easily. Paine fought with George Washington against the British in New York City, supported equal rights for women, freedom for all African slaves, diplomacy with Native American tribes, and much more democracy in America than the constitution provides.

Later on, after barely escaping execution by guillotine during the French Revolution for seeking an end to the death penalty, he was outcast by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and his American allies after he criticized organized religion. This ostracizing went to the point where at his funeral outside New York City, only five people were present: “In a carriage, a woman and her son who had lived on the bounty of the dead – on horseback, a Quaker, the humanity of whose heart dominated the creed of his head – and, following on foot, two negroes filled with gratitude – constituted the funeral cortege of Thomas Paine.”

At one time John Adams said, “without the pen of Thomas Paine, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain”. Also see our articles on the Founding Fathers.

Choose a Work to Read for Thomas Paine’s Birthday!

• Common Sense (1776)
• The American Crisis (1776-77)
• The Rights of Man (1791-92)
• Age of Reason (1794, 1795, 1807)