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​Thomas Paine versus Donald Trump

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) was one of the most influential political thinkers and writers of the American Revolution. Although he did not write the Declaration of Independence—Thomas Jefferson was the principle author—his immensely influential 1776 pamphlet Common Sense helped persuade thousands of Americans that independence from Britain was both necessary and morally justified. If Jefferson gave the Revolution its formal declaration, Paine helped give it its democratic voice. More than two centuries later, many of his ideas remain strikingly relevant. Here are ten recommendations fhat come from Thomas Paine, as presented by the leading Paine scholar in the world, Gregory Claeys, in the interview at the bottom of this page. Claeys is one of the editors of Thomas Paine: Collected Writings (Princeton University Press, 2026) 

1. Do not concentrate political power—especially in the executive branch.
Paine believed that republican liberty depends upon dispersing power and keeping government accountable to the people. He strongly supported the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, which abolished the office of governor in favor of a plural executive council. Although he later supported the ratification of the United States Constitution as an improvement over the Articles of Confederation, he remained wary of concentrated executive authority.

2. Do not let wealth become political power.
A free society should not be governed by aristocrats, oligarchs, or economic elites whose wealth gives them disproportionate influence. Public officials should not use their offices for private financial gain or accept gifts, payments, or other emoluments that compromise their independence. Government exists to serve the whole people, not the privileged few.

3. Protect the equal rights of every person.
Human rights are not gifts from governments but belong to all people by virtue of their humanity. Governments exist to recognize and protect these rights.

4. Keep government accountable to the people and devoted to protecting their rights.
Society arises from cooperation; government is a necessary institution whose purpose is to secure liberty and justice.

5. Expand the right to vote as broadly as possible.
Government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed. Paine opposed property qualifications and championed a much broader franchise than existed in his day. Although he did not explicitly advocate universal adult suffrage in the modern sense, the democratic logic of his political philosophy points strongly in that direction.

6. Provide every person with an economic foundation for freedom.
In Agrarian Justice, Paine proposed financial grants for young adults and pensions for older adults, funded by taxes on inherited wealth. Political liberty requires a measure of economic security.

7. Treat public office as a public trust and put the common good above faction.
Elected officials should serve the welfare of the whole people rather than personal ambition, partisan advantage, or the interests of powerful elites.

8. Cultivate an informed and educated public.
Paine believed that a free republic depends on citizens who can think for themselves through reason, open debate, and access to knowledge. While he did not develop a comprehensive philosophy of public education, he supported public assistance that would enable children from poor families to receive schooling.

9. Let reason, observation, and conscience guide religious belief.
In The Age of Reason, Paine defended deism rather than revealed religion. He believed in God as Creator but rejected the idea that the Bible or any other sacred text was uniquely divinely revealed. For Paine, God's true revelation is creation itself, which is open to every person through reason, observation, and conscience rather than ecclesiastical authority.
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10. Love your country by remaining loyal to principles rather than rulers.
True patriotism is devotion to liberty, equality, democratic self-government, and the common good—not unquestioning loyalty to political leaders.

Learn about Thomas Paine

Summary
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Thomas Paine: Collected Writings (Princeton University Press, 2026) is the first major new edition of Paine’s works, bringing together all his writings in six breathtaking volumes that dramatically revise our previous understanding of his activities as a writer and his importance as a democratic theorist in the age of revolutions. It includes about 180 new letters and some two hundred works newly attributed to Paine, with twenty-nine works previously regarded as Paine’s being deattributed. Drawing on pioneering computerized text analysis that makes possible for the first time attributions of anonymous and pseudonymous texts, this collection includes in volumes 5–6 newly identified pamphlets and newspaper and journal contributions, and suggests that Paine was extremely active as a Grub Street oppositional Whig writer in the decade prior to the American Revolution. Many writings from the period of his residence in France (1792–1802) and his subsequent return to the United States are also restored to his published output.

​Paine emerges as a much more consistent and serious democratic theorist than is often assumed, whose contributions to revolutionary debates in America, Britain, and France were unparalleled in their time. This volume spans the years 1772 to 1782, a decade that witnessed a diverse output of writings from Paine, from editorials and magazine pieces to pamphlets and newspaper articles. The book includes the Forester Letters, the Crisis papers, the Deane Affair articles, and Common Sense, with Gregory Claeys’s general introduction and commentary by the editors providing invaluable historical context.

Gregory Claeys is professor emeritus of the history of political thought at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network.