The USA was not Founded on Christianity: Post #1

Click on Image to Read or Download the Pamphlet

I intend to prove through a series of posts that our Founding Fathers did not establish this Country as a Nation based upon the Christian Faith. 

Therefore, let us start from the beginning of the revolution. Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 that inspired the citizens of the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776.

The pamphlet explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence in a clear and simple language. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution, and became an immediate sensation. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places.

General George Washington had it read to all his troops, which at the time were surrounding the British army in Boston. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time it was at approximately 2.5 million and it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. As of 2006, it still remains the all-time best selling American title.

Thomas Paine began writing Common Sense in late 1775 under the working title of Plain Truth. With Benjamin Rush, who helped him edit and publish it and suggested the final title, Paine developed his ideas into a forty-eight page pamphlet, which he did anonymously because of its treasonable content. Rush recommended the printer Robert Bell, promising Paine that, where other printers might say no because of the content of the pamphlet, Bell would not hesitate nor delay its printing. Paine and Bell eventually had a falling out, but Bell still felt strongly about printing a second edition. Bell added the phrase "Written by an Englishman" to his second edition without Paine's permission. Paine had stressed that it was "the Doctrine, not the man" that was important. Paine wanted to remain anonymous for as long as possible and felt that even such a general phrase as Bell's addition would take attention away from the ideas in his pamphlet.

Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809) was an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary; as well as, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution. 

Click on Image to read or download the Pamphlet

Paine eventually moved to France for most of the 1790's and became deeply involved in the French Revolution. He also wrote Rights of Man in 1791, which in part was a defense of the French Revolution against its critics. His attacks on the British writer Edmund Burke led to a trial in Britain and conviction in absentia in 1792 for the crime of seditious libel. In 1792, despite not being able to speak French, he was elected to the French National Convention. The Girondists regarded him as an ally. Consequently, the Montagnards, especially Robespierre, regarded him as an enemy.

Click on Image to read or download the Pamphlet

In December 1793, he was arrested and imprisoned in Paris, then released in 1794. He became notorious because of his pamphlet The Age of Reason, in which he advocated deism, and promoted reason and free thought, and argued against institutionalized religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular. He also published the pamphlet Agrarian Justice, discussing the origins of property, and introduced the concept of a guaranteed minimum income. In 1802, he returned to the U.S. where he died on June 8, 1809. Only six people attended his funeral as he had been ostracized for his ridicule of Christianity.

Thomas Paine has a claim to the title The Father of the American Revolution. It rests on his pamphlets, especially Common Sense, which crystallized sentiment for independence in 1776. In all about 500,000 copies total including unauthorized editions were sold during the course of the Revolution.

Paine died at the age of 72, at 59 Grove Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. Although the original building is no longer there, the present building has a plaque noting that Paine died at this location.


After his death, Paine's body was brought to New Rochelle, but the Quakers would not allow it to be buried in their grave-yard as per his last will, so his remains were buried under a walnut tree on his farm. 

So, as we have read, Thomas Paine was in no way a Christian, and he is known as the Father of the American Revolution. It might be argued that this country was, in its current Euro-Centric Post Indigenous Form, begun by Christians escaping religious persecution in England who set out to systematically attack and destroy the homelands of the Indigenous Nations of North America and steal their land. But that will be subject to another post. 

More to come.