Thomas Paine: A Quaker Revolutionary

Abstract

THOMAS PAINE: A QUAKER REVOLUTIONARY William C. Kashatus III* The publication of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" in January, 1776, mobilized public support for the principles of the American Revolution. Paine's pamphlet clearly articulated the already existing, but latent, values ofthe republican ideology in American society: the sacrifice of individual interests to the greater good of the whole, an ambivalent combination of equality of opportunity and equality of condition, a distrust of power and the necessity to control it and a convinction ofthe natural and inalienable rights of men.1 The immediate influence ofthis republican ideology on the thought of American revolutionaries has been attributed to the writings ofthe Commonwealthmen.2 However, the identification of the Protestant Dissenting tradition, among the broader influences of the ideology, has encouraged some historians to suggest that Quaker thought played a crucial role in the formation of American ideals.3 Effective proof of such an assertion has remained elusive though, since any direct impact on the political climate of 1776 Philadelphia appears to be negated by the Society of Friends' opposition to involvement in political affairs and its uncompromising stance on pacifism.4 However , an ideological connection can be indicated if a founding father were proven to be sincerely Quaker in his thought, but, to date, none *William Kashatus is a history teacher at the Riverdale School in New York City. This article is the fruit of his research in fulfillment of the requirements for the masters degree at Brown University. 1 . Gordon S . Wood, the Creation ofthe American Republic (Chapel Hill , 1 969) , 46-74. 2.Ibid., 15. 3.See Seth B. Hinshaw, Quaker Influence on American Ideals (1976) and William W. Comfort, William Penn and Our Civil Liberties (1947). 4.Arthur J. Mekeel, "The Founding Years," Friends in the Delaware Valley, ed. John M. Moore (Philadelphia, 1981), 39-42. At the time of the French and Indian War in 1756, the Quakers as a Society dissociated themselves from political involvement in Pennsylvania affairs, believing such participation to be inconsistent with their pacifist convictions. Also see Arthur J. Mekeel, The Relation of the Quakers to the American Revolution. (Washington DC. , 1979). Mekeel provides a detailed account, by colony, of Quaker political and military involvement, as well as non-involvement during the American Revolution. He does not indicate any strong Quaker influence on the ideology ofthe Revolution itself. 38 Thomas ?a??e: A Quaker Revolutionary39 has been identified.5 In this respect, the socio-religious thought of Thomas Paine has been overlooked as evidence ofa Quaker influence on the ideology ofthe American Revolution. Although his Quaker upbringing is an established fact, the problem ofPaine's Quakerism, with regard to its impact on the ideology ofthe American Revolution, is a very complex one.6 The identification of such an influence is difficult to prove not only because most of Paine's correspondence and autobiographical materials, providing insight for his thought, were accidently destroyed in a fire over a century ago,7 but also in order to depict Paine in his entirety requires a knowledge of Revolutionary America, England and France as well as a familiarity with eighteenth century science, theology and political thought. Accordingly, the current purpose is not to negate those other strands of thought by proposing an exclusively Quaker influence on Paine's ideology, but rather to suggest, through circumstantial evidence, that Quaker thought was the predominant strain of influence on Paine's ideology during his first years in America. Quakerism, which arose in England during the religious upheaval of the Cromwellian period in the middle of the 17th century was based on the fundamental doctrine ofthat ofGod in every man or the "inner light." This conviction maintains that the "relation between Christ and man is an organic one." Accordingly, all human beings are "aware of their common relation to one God and, hence, to each other."8 This religious concept, combined with a pragmatic stress on the ethical principles recorded in the Scriptures, produced a strong sense of social responsibility among the Quakers. This social and ethical consciousness resulted in three distinct social testimonies which became distinguishing marks ofthe early Quaker movement as well as ofthe Society ofFriends subsequently. 5.See...