Thomas Paine and the radical support for the French Revolution

Résumé du document

Thomas Paine used to describe himself as a 'citizen of the world' and he certainly travelled in several countries in order to spread his idea of citizenship. Born in England in 1737 in a poor family, he left the school at the age of twelve and was a complete autodidact. After having several jobs for a living, he wrote his first political work, which was called The Case of the Officers of Excise, in 1772. In 1774, he went to America, where he played a significant role in the American Revolution. His commitment was particularly demonstrated thanks to famous texts such as The Common Sense (1776) and The Crisis (1776-77), which were two political pamphlets which justified the struggle of the Insurgents. He was also involved personally in the French Revolution, by becoming a French citizen and a Convention deputy. But, although Thomas Paine was the most popular foreigner to support the French Revolution, he was not the only British radical. We have here to define the term "radical", which refers to a person or an organization opposed to arbitrary governments and in favour of more freedom and political rights. Even though the radicals existed in Britain before the American Revolution, they ebbed after the end of this war. Nevertheless, they experienced a rebirth thanks to the French Revolution, to which they gave their support.
We have to question the role of Thomas Paine among the radicals regarding the support for the French Revolution. He was the central figure of this support, but this does not mean that the Briton radicals always followed him, for they had their own agenda. Besides, it appears of interest to focus on the way the radical support reacted to the French events.
This is why after having dealt with the radical unity from 1789 to 1791, which was symbolized by Paine's The Rights of Man ; we will discuss the different ways they took from 1792, between fear and commitment in the Revolution, and finally we will consider the withdrawal of the radicals from the French Revolution.

Extraits

[...] But even if he had been persecuted in France by despotism, he still had the same ideas. He understood his incarceration under the Terror, because the regime which did it was based on equality. But the Thermidorian Convention put a stop at the rights of men, established a restrictive suffrage and was based on the property. For Paine, this was a rupture with the goals of the Revolution. He stood against the Constitution of Year III and refused to sit in the Council of the Five Hundred. [...]

[...] Then the radical support for the French Revolution can be seen with the responses to Burke, with Joseph Priestley for example. Joseph Priestley's support for the Revolution even led to riots in 1791. Another great supporter of the French Revolution was Mary Wollstonecraft with her pamphlet entitled A Vindication of the Right of Men (1790), which displayed her disapproval as well regarding Burke's ideas. We can also count James Mackintosh, whose the pamphlet Vindicae Gallicae: Defence of the French Revolution and its English Admirers was the only one Burke estimated, because it was the most intellectual response he received. [...]

[...] French Revolution as an impulse III Moving away from the French Revolution 1. Disillusionments of Thomas Paine 2. The decrease of English radicals 3. The failure of popular uprisings Appendices Extracts of Discourse on the Love of Our Country by Richard Price Caricature of James Gillray, The Rights of Man Extracts of The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine John Thelwall's statement on the French Revolution Napoleon's opinion on Thomas Paine Bibliography Primary Sources CLAEYS Gregory (eds.), Political writings of the 1790s, vol. [...]

[...] They were in contact with the French revolutionaries and the United Irishmen. Or in 1798, Father Coigley and Arthur O'Connor were arrested. However, as much as revolutionaries and supporter of the French Revolution theses groups were, they never were a real threat for the government. In 1802 the failure of Despard's conspiracy, who had planned to stir up London with the United Englishmen, signed the end of the attempts of British uprisings. In fact, the most significant popular uprising caused by the Revolution happened in Ireland in 1798. [...]

[...] The popular radicals were ready for a show of strength. The links between this British popular radicalism and the French Revolution were numerous and one can name the figure of John Thelwall, who gloried in the name of a sans- culotte or the planting of Trees of Freedom. It was related to the idea of a global revolution, an idea defended by Thomas Paine. To support the French Revolution was to accept that the British regime had to change if it wanted to survive French Revolution as an impulse However, not all the radicals wanted as much as the popular radicalism asked. [...]