Why is Thomas Paine not considered a Founding Father of the United States?

Question

Thomas Paine was the ultimate Founding Father! Wooo, Tom Paine ROCKS!

Did you know he:

-produced the original draft for the Declaration of Independence?

-was militantly anti-slavery, and included a clause in the draft for the DofI that would abolish slavery, but it was omitted because Thomas Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves?

-wrote pamphlets that were read by a percentage of the population back then that is greater than the percentage of people that watch the Superbowl today?


To think that someone so important is left out of so many "founding father" lists is ridiculous! You've got Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, James Monroe, etc. etc. etc...but no Tom Paine! Blasphemy!

It's just because he wrote the brilliant "The Age of Reason" and denounced Christianity that he died poor and hated by the ignorant. Theodore Roosevelt called him a "filthy little atheist", which is about as ignorant as you can get. Thomas Paine was not an atheist nor a Christian, but a Deist.

Commenter #7:

F u c k off and don't be spamming my own topics that are none of your business. What's wrong with posting about Thomas Paine in the Government forum? Nothing! It's not irrelevant at all, so go eat a dick.

I don't have to be bothered to email you, you self righteous a**hole. Why do I feel the need to criticize you in someone else's post? Because that's the post you commented in, shitface. And you made a completely ludicrous comment about someone who leaned slightly to the right was obviously a neo-con fascist. I called you out on your bullshit. Got a problem?

Answer 1

I consider him a founding father (so do the French) and I teach my students that as well. Don't forget other "less mentionables" such as Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, Von Stuben, Lafayette and countless others.

See..there are two problems here, one 219 years old and one fairy recent. The first goes along with the very nature of revolutions. 1) Yesterday's radical revolutionaries tend to become tommorrows status-quo conservatives, once they achieve power of course. 2) All revolutions, the U.S. to a lesser degree than others, tend to "eat their children". What happened? It's debatable, but within 11 years of the Declaration of Independence, monied elites are able to manuever themselves into the forefront and basically betray the revolution...the FEDERALISTS WIN and proceed to "airbrush away" and discredit a good number of their fellow revolutionaries, exiling many to the "dustbin of history", especially the most radical and freethinking of the bunch were simply labeled as provincial miopic holdouts that couldn't appreciate the vitues of a centralized government.

The recent one has to do with religion and assumptions of what the founders belived in or didn't. Usually Xian fanatics are behind this and tend to ignore the more atheistic/deistic of the founding fathers. Read the Treaty of Tripoli.

Answer 2

I can't find any evidence that Thomas Paine produced the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. It's pretty well-known that Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft in a committee.

Since Thomas Paine didn't sign Declaration of Independence and was not at the Constitutional Convention, it's understandable that he might not be found on every list of Founding Fathers. However, because of the important pamphlets he wrote, I don't think that anyone would deny Mr. Paine a place in the American Pantheon.

For what it's worth, Wikipedia lists Thomas Paine on its list of Founding Fathers.

Answer 3

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RE:
Why is Thomas Paine not considered a Founding Father of the United States?
Thomas Paine was the ultimate Founding Father! Wooo, Tom Paine ROCKS!

Did you know he:

-produced the original draft for the Declaration of Independence?

-was militantly anti-slavery, and included a clause in the draft for the DofI that would abolish slavery, but it was omitted because...

Answer 4

Wow, I'll just bet that you're the life of the party! That is the single most unimaginitive and irrelevant question that I've ever seen on this forum! Thomas Paine?? WHO GIVES A RAT'S HAIRY LEFT TESTICLE?!!

And by the way, why do you feel the need to criticize me on someone else's post, and not directly to my e-mail?! Nobody asked for your opinion, so if you want a shot at me, come to the source! Either way, however, I'll make you look like the ignorant dolt that you are; so any time you want to debate an issue, especially MY ISSUE, have the guts to do it to me, or keep your cowardly mouth shut!!

Answer 5

Maybe my facts are wrong, but I thought the slavery clause was omitted because a few of the Southern colonies refused to ratify it if it was left in. Maybe I'm thinking of the Constitution. I'll have to go look that up now.

But to answer your question, I don't know. He was certainly one of the great minds behind the Revolution. I would use the term "propagandist", but that carries a negative connotation.

Answer 6

More importantly we not consider Adam Smith and John Locke as founding fathers. Given all the basic American principles and ideas originated with them..

Answer 7

Wasn't Jefferson also a Deist?

Answer 8

you think too much