146-457: Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain ; February 9, 1737 [ O.S. January 29, 1736] – June 8, 1809) was an English-born American Founding Father , French Revolutionary , inventor, and political philosopher. He authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), two of the most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution , and he helped to inspire
292-616: A supernumerary officer. In December 1762, he became an Excise Officer in Grantham , Lincolnshire; in August 1764, he was transferred to Alford , also in Lincolnshire, at a salary of £50 per annum. On August 27, 1765, he was dismissed as an Excise Officer for "claiming to have inspected goods he did not inspect". On July 31, 1766, he requested his reinstatement from the Board of Excise, which they granted
438-463: A "crapulous mass". Adams disagreed with the type of radical democracy promoted by Paine (that men who did not own property should still be allowed to vote and hold public office) and published Thoughts on Government in 1776 to advocate a more conservative approach to republicanism. Sophia Rosenfeld argues that Paine was highly innovative in his use of the commonplace notion of "common sense". He synthesized various philosophical and political uses of
584-478: A bitter open letter to George Washington , whom he denounced as an incompetent general and a hypocrite. He published the pamphlet Agrarian Justice (1797), discussing the origins of property and introducing the concept of a guaranteed minimum income through a one-time inheritance tax on landowners. In 1802, he returned to the U.S. He died on June 8, 1809. Only six people attended his funeral, as he had been ostracized for his ridicule of Christianity and his attacks on
730-623: A calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 1582 and 1923. In England , Wales , Ireland and Britain's American colonies , there were two calendar changes, both in 1752. The first adjusted the start of a new year from 25 March ( Lady Day , the Feast of the Annunciation ) to 1 January,
876-535: A change which Scotland had made in 1600. The second discarded the Julian calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar, skipping 11 days in the month of September to do so. To accommodate the two calendar changes, writers used dual dating to identify a given day by giving its date according to both styles of dating. For countries such as Russia where no start-of-year adjustment took place, O.S. and N.S. simply indicate
1022-629: A citizen of Pennsylvania "by taking the oath of allegiance at a very early period". In March 1775, he became editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine , a position he conducted with considerable ability. Before Paine's arrival in America, sixteen magazines had been founded in the colonies and ultimately failed, each featuring substantial content and reprints from England. In late 1774, Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken announced his plan to create what he called an "American Magazine" with content derived from
1168-598: A counterrevolutionary blast against the French Revolution, entitled Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), which strongly appealed to the landed class, and sold 30,000 copies. Paine set out to refute it in his Rights of Man (1791). He wrote it not as a quick pamphlet, but as a long, abstract political tract of 90,000 words which tore apart monarchies and traditional social institutions. On January 31, 1791, he gave
1314-406: A fervent supporter of Deane, immediately spoke out against Paine's comments. The controversy eventually became public, and Paine was then denounced as unpatriotic for criticizing an American revolutionary. He was even physically assaulted twice in the street by Deane supporters. This much-added stress took a large toll on Paine, who was generally of a sensitive character and he resigned as secretary to
1460-569: A gap in the South Downs , cut through by the River Ouse , and near its confluence with the Winterbourne Stream. It is approximately seven miles north of Newhaven , and an equal distance north-east of Brighton . The South Downs rise above the river on both banks. The High Street, and earliest settlement, occupies the west bank, climbing steeply up from the bridge taking its ancient route along
1606-454: A letter dated "12/22 Dec. 1635". In his biography of John Dee , The Queen's Conjurer , Benjamin Woolley surmises that because Dee fought unsuccessfully for England to embrace the 1583/84 date set for the change, "England remained outside the Gregorian system for a further 170 years, communications during that period customarily carrying two dates". In contrast, Thomas Jefferson , who lived while
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#17328439638741752-665: A letter of recommendation to Paine, who emigrated in October to the American colonies, arriving in Philadelphia on November 30, 1774. Paine barely survived the transatlantic voyage. The ship's water supplies were bad and typhoid fever killed five passengers. On arriving at Philadelphia, he was too sick to disembark. Benjamin Franklin's physician, there to welcome Paine to America, had him carried off ship; Paine took six weeks to recover. He became
1898-656: A long time friend and mentor. Franklin provided letters of introduction for Paine to use to gain associates and contacts in France. Later that year, Paine returned to London from Paris. He then released a pamphlet on August 20 called Prospects on the Rubicon: or, an investigation into the Causes and Consequences of the Politics to be Agitated at the Meeting of Parliament . Tensions between England and France were increasing, and this pamphlet urged
2044-693: A major port. During the Crimean War , some 300 Finns who had served in the Russian army during the Åland War and been captured at Bomarsund were imprisoned in the naval prison at Lewes. Lewes became a borough in 1881. Lewes Town Hall opened in 1893 in premises converted from the former Star Inn and in 1913 Council Offices were added in Arts-and-Crafts style. Lewes Victoria Hospital opened in 1909 in its current premises, as Victoria Hospital and Infirmary, having previously been on School Hill where it opened as
2190-501: A mission to travel to Paris to obtain funding for the American war effort. Paine accompanied Col. John Laurens to France and is credited with initiating the mission. It landed in France in March 1781 and returned to America in August with 2.5 million livres in silver, as part of a "present" of 6 million and a loan of 10 million. The meetings with the French king were most likely conducted in
2336-469: A pitched battle on the hills above the town (roughly in the area of modern Landport Bottom). The king's son Prince Edward , commanding the right wing of the royal army, succeeded in driving off some of the baronial forces, but he got carried away with the pursuit, which took him as far as Offham . In Edward's absence the remainder of the royal army was attacked by de Montfort and Gilbert de Clare and decisively defeated. The king's brother Richard of Cornwall
2482-690: A role either assisting Jefferson with organizing ideas within the Declaration, or contributing to the text of the original draft itself. In late 1776, Paine published The American Crisis pamphlet series to inspire the Americans in their battles against the British army. He juxtaposed the conflict between the good American devoted to civic virtue and the selfish provincial man. To inspire his soldiers, General George Washington had The American Crisis , first Crisis pamphlet, read aloud to them. It begins: These are
2628-528: A solution for Americans disgusted with and alarmed at the threat of tyranny. Paine's attack on monarchy in Common Sense is essentially an attack on George III . Whereas colonial resentments were originally directed primarily against the king's ministers and Parliament, Paine laid the responsibility firmly at the king's door. Common Sense was the most widely read pamphlet of the American Revolution. It
2774-828: A start-of-year adjustment works well with little confusion for events before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Agincourt is well known to have been fought on 25 October 1415, which is Saint Crispin's Day . However, for the period between the first introduction of the Gregorian calendar on 15 October 1582 and its introduction in Britain on 14 September 1752, there can be considerable confusion between events in Continental Western Europe and in British domains. Events in Continental Western Europe are usually reported in English-language histories by using
2920-426: A strong political perspective to its content, writing in its first issue that "every heart and hand seem to be engaged in the interesting struggle for American Liberty. " Paine wrote in the Pennsylvania Magazine that such a publication should become a "nursery of genius" for a nation that had "now outgrown the state of infancy," exercising and educating American minds, and shaping American morality. On March 8, 1775,
3066-710: A suitable constitution for the French Republic . He subsequently participated in the Constitutional Committee in drafting the Girondin constitutional project . He voted for the French Republic, but argued against the execution of Louis XVI , referred to as Louis Capet following his deposition, saying the monarch should instead be exiled to the United States: firstly, because of the way royalist France had come to
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#17328439638743212-619: A time when there was no compulsory education. At the age of 13, he was apprenticed to his father. Following his apprenticeship, aged 19, Paine enlisted and briefly served as a privateer , before returning to Britain in 1759. There, he became a master staymaker , establishing a shop in Sandwich, Kent . On September 27, 1759, Paine married Mary Lambert. His business collapsed soon after. Mary became pregnant; and, after they moved to Margate , she went into early labour, in which she and their child died. In July 1761, Paine returned to Thetford to work as
3358-757: A writ for his arrest issued in early 1792. Paine fled to France in September, despite not being able to speak French, but he was quickly elected to the French National Convention . The Girondins regarded him as an ally; consequently, the Montagnards regarded him as an enemy, especially Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier , the powerful president of the Committee of General Security . In December 1793, Vadier arrested Paine and took him to Luxembourg Prison in Paris. He completed
3504-526: Is 9 February 1649, the date by which his contemporaries in some parts of continental Europe would have recorded his execution. The O.S./N.S. designation is particularly relevant for dates which fall between the start of the "historical year" (1 January) and the legal start date, where different. This was 25 March in England, Wales, Ireland and the colonies until 1752, and until 1600 in Scotland. In Britain, 1 January
3650-456: Is a site of biological interest, an isolated area of the South Downs. Lewes Brooks, also of biological importance, is part of the floodplain of the River Ouse , providing a habitat for many invertebrates such as water beetles and snails. Southerham Works Pit is of geological interest, a disused chalk pit displaying a wide variety of fossilised fish remains. The Railway Land nature reserve
3796-580: Is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate ). The Roman Catholic church is dedicated to St. Pancras in memory of the Priory and is a red-brick building over the street from St Anne's. In 2001 the service industries were by far the biggest employers in Lewes: over 60% of the population working in that sector. A little over 10% are employed in manufacturing, mostly in
3942-491: Is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. In 1777, Paine became secretary of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs. The following year, he alluded to secret negotiation underway with France in his pamphlets. His enemies denounced his indiscretions. There
4088-493: Is due in 2027. Since 2010, the town has been included within the South Downs National Park . The National Park Authority has therefore taken over some functions from the local councils, notably relating to town planning . There are also a number of local political groups without council representation. The far-left group Lewes Maoist Action has operated in the town since 2013, frequently handing out leaflets at
4234-644: Is equal to £1. Like the similar local currency in Totnes , the initiative is part of the Transition Towns movement. The Lewes Pound and the Transition Towns movement have received criticism for a failure to address the needs of the wider Lewes population, especially lower socio-economic groups. Such local currency initiatives have been more widely criticised in light of limited success stimulating new spending in local economies and as an unrealistic strategy to reduce carbon emissions. The Lewes Pound can be exchanged for
4380-510: Is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter circa 961 AD, where it appears as Læwe . It appears as Lewes in the Domesday Book of 1086. The addition of the <-s> suffix seems to have been part of a broader trend of Anglo-Norman scribes pluralising Anglo-Saxon place-names (a famous example being their rendering of Lunden as Londres , hence the modern French name for London ). The traditional derivation of Læwe , first posited by
4526-651: Is no shortage in the Lewes area). This unusual word was borrowed into Old English from Old Welsh , the Modern Welsh spelling being llechwedd . The immense strategic value of the site, which is able to command traffic between the Channel coast and the Sussex interior, was recognised as early as the Iron Age , when a hill-fort was built on Mount Caburn , the steep-sided hill that overlooks
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4672-608: Is on the east side of the town next to the Ouse, and contains an area of woodland and marshes, which now includes the Heart of Reeds, a sculpted reed bed designed by local land artist Chris Drury . The Winterbourne stream, a tributary of the Ouse, flows through it. This stream flows most winters and dries up in the summer, hence its name. It continues through Lewes going through the Grange Gardens and often travelling underground. The Heart of Reeds
4818-530: Is one of the sites in East Sussex and Kent home to the marsh frog , an introduced species. It is popular with pond-dippers and walkers. A centre for the study of environmental change is due to be built at the entrance to the nature reserve. On 21 August 1864, Lewes experienced an earthquake measuring 3.1 on the Richter magnitude scale . Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there
4964-622: The Pennsylvania Packet that France had " prefaced [their] alliance by an early and generous friendship ," referring to aid that had been provided to American colonies prior to the recognition of the Franco-American treaties. This was alleged to be effectively an embarrassment to France, which potentially could have jeopardized the alliance. John Jay, the President of the Congress, who had been
5110-513: The Girondins , he was seen with increasing disfavor by the Montagnards , who were now in power. Paine was under scrutiny by the authorities also because he was a personal adversary of Gouverneur Morris , who was the American ambassador in France and a friend of George Washington . The revolutionary government, both the Committee of Public Safety and the Committee of General Security , sought to gain
5256-763: The Kingdom of Wessex , and in 838 Ecgberht, King of Wessex donated the estate of Malling, on the opposite side of the Ouse from Lewes, to the Archbishop of Canterbury . As a result, the Parish of Malling became a ' peculiar ', which means that the parish was directly subject to the Archbishop of Canterbury rather than the Bishop of Chichester like every other parish in Sussex. Malling would retain this anomalous status until as late as 1845. Information about Lewes becomes much more plentiful from
5402-472: The Pennsylvania Magazine published an unsigned abolitionist essay titled African Slavery in America . The essay is often attributed to Paine on the basis of a letter by Benjamin Rush , recalling Paine's claim of authorship to the essay. The essay attacked slavery as an "execrable commerce" and "outrage against Humanity and Justice." Consciously appealing to a broader and more working-class audience, Paine also used
5548-519: The Rape of Lewes passed to his sororal nephew Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel . Fitzalan preferred to reside at Arundel Castle rather than at Lewes, and the town therefore lost the prestige and economic advantages associated with being the seat of an important magnate. This was only the beginning of a series of misfortunes that struck Lewes, for in 1348 the Black Death arrived in England and later on in
5694-592: The Russian Empire and the very beginning of Soviet Russia . For example, in the article "The October (November) Revolution", the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the format of "25 October (7 November, New Style)" to describe the date of the start of the revolution. The Latin equivalents, which are used in many languages, are, on the one hand, stili veteris (genitive) or stilo vetere (ablative), abbreviated st.v. , and meaning "(of/in) old style" ; and, on
5840-548: The colonial era patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era ideals of human rights . Paine was born in Thetford , Norfolk, and immigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin , arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. Virtually every American Patriot read his 47-page pamphlet Common Sense , which catalyzed
5986-509: The last earl , namely John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , Edward Neville, 3rd Baron Bergavenny , and Edmund Lenthall. As a result of this dismemberment the district became even more neglected by its lords, although feudal politics was starting to become less important anyway due to the centralising reforms of the Yorkist and Tudor kings. The English Reformation was begun by one of these Tudor monarchs, Henry VIII , and as part of this process
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6132-514: The monasteries of England were dissolved ; Lewes Priory was consequently demolished in 1538 and its property seized by the Crown. Henry's daughter Mary I reversed the religious policy of England, and during the resulting Marian Persecutions of 1555–1557, Lewes was the site of the execution of seventeen Protestant martyrs , most of them actually from the Weald rather than Lewes itself, who were burned at
6278-513: The twin town of Blois attend, vending on Cliffe Bridge. From 1794 beers, wines and spirits were distributed from Lewes under the Harveys name, and the town is today the site of Harvey & Son 's brewery celebrated as one of the finest ale producers in England. In September 2008, Lewes launched its own currency, the Lewes Pound , in an effort to increase trade within the town. One Lewes Pound
6424-586: The 17th century. Here he lived above the 15th-century Bull House, the tobacco shop of Samuel Ollive and Esther Ollive. Paine first became involved in civic matters when he was based in Lewes. He appears in the Town Book as a member of the Court Leet, the governing body for the town. He was also a member of the parish vestry , an influential local Anglican church group whose responsibilities for parish business would include collecting taxes and tithes to distribute among
6570-482: The 19th century, a practice that the author Karen Bellenir considered to reveal a deep emotional resistance to calendar reform. Lewes Lewes ( / ˈ l uː ɪ s / ) is the county town of East Sussex , England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider district of the same name . It lies on the River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the South Downs . A traditional market town and centre of communications, in 1264 it
6716-532: The 4th century , had drifted from reality . The Gregorian calendar reform also dealt with the accumulated difference between these figures, between the years 325 and 1582, by skipping 10 days to set the ecclesiastical date of the equinox to be 21 March, the median date of its occurrence at the time of the First Council of Nicea in 325. Countries that adopted the Gregorian calendar after 1699 needed to skip an additional day for each subsequent new century that
6862-556: The Bank of North America for approval by Congress in December 1781 should go to Henry or John Laurens and Paine more than to Morris. Paine bought his only house in 1783 on the corner of Farnsworth Avenue and Church Streets in Bordentown City , New Jersey and he lived in it periodically until his death in 1809. This is the only place in the world where Paine purchased real estate. In 1785, Paine
7008-531: The Boyne was commemorated with smaller parades on 1 July. However, both events were combined in the late 18th century, and continue to be celebrated as " The Twelfth ". Because of the differences, British writers and their correspondents often employed two dates, a practice called dual dating , more or less automatically. Letters concerning diplomacy and international trade thus sometimes bore both Julian and Gregorian dates to prevent confusion. For example, Sir William Boswell wrote to Sir John Coke from The Hague
7154-399: The British Isles and colonies converted to the Gregorian calendar, instructed that his tombstone bear his date of birth by using the Julian calendar (notated O.S. for Old Style) and his date of death by using the Gregorian calendar. At Jefferson's birth, the difference was eleven days between the Julian and Gregorian calendars and so his birthday of 2 April in the Julian calendar is 13 April in
7300-489: The British Ministry to reconsider the consequences of war with France. Paine sought to turn the public opinion against the war to create better relations between the countries, avoid the taxes of war upon the citizens, and not engage in a war he believed would ruin both nations. Back in London by 1787, Paine would become engrossed in the French Revolution that began two years later and decided to travel to France in 1790. Meanwhile, conservative intellectual Edmund Burke launched
7446-410: The British colonies, changed the start of the year from 25 March to 1 January, with effect from "the day after 31 December 1751". (Scotland had already made this aspect of the changes, on 1 January 1600.) The second (in effect ) adopted the Gregorian calendar in place of the Julian calendar. Thus "New Style" can refer to the start-of-year adjustment , to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar , or to
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#17328439638747592-426: The Committee of Foreign Affairs in 1779. Paine left the Committee without even having enough money to buy food for himself. Much later, when Paine returned from his mission to France, Deane's corruption had become more widely acknowledged. Many, including Robert Morris, apologized to Paine, and Paine's reputation in Philadelphia was restored. In 1780, Paine published a pamphlet entitled "Public Good," in which he made
7738-653: The Committee of General Security. Sixteen American citizens were allowed to plead for Paine's release to the convention, yet President Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier of the Committee of General Security refused to acknowledge Paine's American citizenship, stating he was an Englishman and therefore a citizen of a country at war with France. Paine protested and claimed that he was a citizen of the U.S. However, Ambassador Morris did not press his claim, and Paine later wrote that Morris had connived at his imprisonment. Old Style and New Style dates Old Style ( O.S. ) and New Style ( N.S. ) indicate dating systems before and after
7884-420: The French government to finance the colonists in their fight for independence. Paine largely saw Deane as a war profiteer who had little respect for principle, having been under the employ of Robert Morris, one of the primary financiers of the American Revolution and working with Pierre Beaumarchais , a French royal agent sent to the colonies by King Louis to investigate the Anglo-American conflict. Paine uncovered
8030-508: The Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Blenheim is always given as 13 August 1704. However, confusion occurs when an event involves both. For example, William III of England arrived at Brixham in England on 5 November (Julian calendar), after he had set sail from the Netherlands on 11 November (Gregorian calendar) 1688. The Battle of the Boyne in Ireland took place a few months later on 1 July 1690 (Julian calendar). That maps to 11 July (Gregorian calendar), conveniently close to
8176-466: The Gregorian calendar. Similarly, George Washington is now officially reported as having been born on 22 February 1732, rather than on 11 February 1731/32 (Julian calendar). The philosopher Jeremy Bentham , born on 4 February 1747/8 (Julian calendar), in later life celebrated his birthday on 15 February. There is some evidence that the calendar change was not easily accepted. Many British people continued to celebrate their holidays "Old Style" well into
8322-430: The Julian and Gregorian dating systems respectively. The need to correct the calendar arose from the realisation that the correct figure for the number of days in a year is not 365.25 (365 days 6 hours) as assumed by the Julian calendar but slightly less (c. 365.242 days). The Julian calendar therefore has too many leap years . The consequence was that the basis for the calculation of the date of Easter , as decided in
8468-408: The Julian calendar had added since then. When the British Empire did so in 1752, the gap had grown to eleven days; when Russia did so (as its civil calendar ) in 1918, thirteen days needed to be skipped. In the Kingdom of Great Britain and its possessions, the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 introduced two concurrent changes to the calendar. The first, which applied to England, Wales, Ireland and
8614-454: The Julian date of the subsequent (and more decisive) Battle of Aughrim on 12 July 1691 (Julian). The latter battle was commemorated annually throughout the 18th century on 12 July, following the usual historical convention of commemorating events of that period within Great Britain and Ireland by mapping the Julian date directly onto the modern Gregorian calendar date (as happens, for example, with Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November). The Battle of
8760-399: The Lewes Dispensary and Infirmary in 1855. In October 2000, the town suffered major flooding during an intense period of severe weather throughout the United Kingdom. The commercial centre of the town and many residential areas were devastated. In a government report into the nationwide flooding, Lewes was officially noted the most severely affected location. As a result of the devastation,
8906-424: The Lewes Flood Action group formed, to press for better flood protection measures. There are three tiers of local government covering Lewes, at parish (town), district and county level: Lewes Town Council, Lewes District Council and East Sussex County Council . The town council is based at Lewes Town Hall on the High Street. The county council has its headquarters at County Hall on St Anne's Crescent in
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#17328439638749052-436: The London winter distributing the 4,000 copies printed to the Parliament and others. In spring 1774, he was again dismissed from the excise service for being absent from his post without permission. The tobacco shop failed. On April 14, to avoid debtors' prison , he sold his household possessions to pay debts. He formally separated from his wife Elizabeth on June 4, 1774, and moved to London. In September, mathematician, Fellow of
9198-480: The Massachusetts Historical Society. The Sherman copy of the Declaration of Independence is one of several working drafts of the Declaration, made for Roger Sherman 's review and approval before the Committee of Five submitted a finalized draft to Congress. The Sherman Copy of the Declaration of Independence contains an inscription on the back of the document that states: "A beginning perhaps-Original with Jefferson-Copied from Original with T.P.'s permission." According to
9344-402: The Ouse (and the modern town of Lewes) from the east. During the Roman period, there was an aristocratic villa at Beddingham , at the foot of Mount Caburn, and there have been several finds of Roman coins and pottery sherds in Lewes itself. The Victorian historian Thomas Walker Horsfield therefore reckoned that there must have been a Roman settlement on the site, and he identified it with
9490-415: The Ouse valley from the coast to the Surrey boundary. De Warenne constructed Lewes Castle within the walls of the Saxon burh , while his wife Gundreda founded the Priory of St Pancras , a Cluniac monastic house, in about 1081. During the Second Barons' War , King Henry III was ambushed at Lewes by a force of rebel barons led by Simon de Montfort . Henry marched out to fight de Montfort, leading to
9636-493: The Phoenix Bridge and through the Cuilfail Tunnel to join the A27. The town boundaries were enlarged twice (from the original town walls), in 1881 and 1934. They now include the more modern housing estates of Wallands, South Malling (the west part of which is a previously separate village with a church dedicated to St Michael), Nevill, Lansdown and Cranedown on the Kingston Road. Countryside walks can be taken starting from several points in Lewes. One can walk on Mount Caburn to
9782-413: The Revolutionary War, Paine served as an aide-de-camp to the important general, Nathanael Greene . In what may have been an error, and perhaps even contributed to his resignation as the secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, Paine was openly critical of Silas Deane, an American diplomat who had been appointed in March 1776 by the Congress to travel to France in secret. Deane's goal was to influence
9928-470: The Revolutionary generation "the children of the twice-born". because in their childhood they had experienced the Great Awakening , which, for the first time, had tied Americans together, transcending denominational and ethnic boundaries and giving them a sense of patriotism. While there is no historical record of Paine's involvement in drafting the Declaration of Independence , some scholars of Early American History have suspected his involvement. As noted by
10074-403: The Royal Society, and Commissioner of the Excise George Lewis Scott introduced him to Benjamin Franklin , who was there as a voice for colonial opposition to British colonial rule, especially as it related to the Stamp Act , and the Townshend Acts . He was publisher and editor of the largest American newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette and suggested emigration to Philadelphia. He handed out
10220-409: The Thomas Paine National Historical Association, multiple authors have hypothesized and written on the subject, including Moody (1872), Van der Weyde (1911), Lewis (1947), and more recently, Smith & Rickards (2007). In 2018, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association introduced an early draft of the Declaration that contained evidence of Paine's involvement based on an inscription of "T.P." on
10366-432: The Thomas Paine National Historical Association, the individual referenced as "T.P." in the inscription appears to be Thomas Paine. The degree to which Paine was involved in formulating the text of the Declaration is unclear, as the original draft referenced in the Sherman Copy inscription is presumed lost or destroyed. However, John Adams' request for permission of "T.P." to copy the original draft may suggest that Paine had
10512-564: The Tudor antiquarian Laurence Nowell , derives it from the Old English word hlæw , meaning "hill" or " barrow ", presumably referring to School Hill (on which the historic centre of Lewes stands) or to one of the five ancient burial mounds, all now levelled, in the vicinity of St John sub Castro . However, this etymology has been challenged by the Swedish philologist Rune Forsberg on the grounds that
10658-515: The Washington, Lee, and Randolph families, had taken advantage of this royal charter to survey and to claim title to huge swaths of land, including much land west of the 13 colonies. In "Public Good," Paine argued that these lands belonged to the American government as represented by the Continental Congress. This angered many of Paine's wealthy Virginia friends, including Richard Henry Lee of
10804-417: The aid of the American Revolution; and secondly, because of a moral objection to capital punishment in general and to revenge killings in particular. Paine's speech in defense of Louis XVI was interrupted by Jean-Paul Marat , who claimed that, as a Quaker, Paine's religious beliefs ran counter to inflicting capital punishment and thus he should be ineligible to vote. Marat interrupted a second time, stating that
10950-551: The army. In 1785, he was given $ 3,000 by the U.S. Congress in recognition of his service to the nation. Henry Laurens (father of Col. John Laurens ) had been the ambassador to the Netherlands , but he was captured by the British on his return trip there. When he was later exchanged for the prisoner Lord Cornwallis in late 1781, Paine proceeded to the Netherlands to continue the loan negotiations. There remains some question as to
11096-549: The back of the document. During the early deliberations of the Committee of Five members chosen by Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence, John Adams made a hastily written manuscript copy of the original draft of the Declaration of Independence on June 24, 1776, known as the Sherman Copy. Adams made this copy shortly before preparing another neater, fair copy that is held in the Adams Family Papers collection at
11242-518: The call for independence from Great Britain. The American Crisis was a pro-independence pamphlet series. Paine lived in France for most of the 1790s, becoming deeply involved in the French Revolution . While in England, he wrote Rights of Man (1791), in part a defense of the French Revolution against its critics, particularly the Anglo-Irish conservative writer Edmund Burke . His authorship of
11388-579: The case that territories west of the 13 colonies that had been part of the British Empire belonged after the Declaration of Independence to the American government, and did not belong to any of the 13 states or to any individual speculators . A royal charter of 1609 had granted to the Virginia Company land stretching to the Pacific Ocean. A small group of wealthy Virginia land speculators, including
11534-608: The century the Hundred Years War led to a series of French and Castilian raids on Sussex, which badly disrupted trade. On one occasion in 1377 the Prior of St Pancras , John de Charlieu, was abducted by the raiders and held to ransom. Furthermore, after the main branch of the Fitzalan family died out in 1439, the Rape of Lewes was subsequently partitioned between the three sororal nephews of
11680-472: The claims of traditional institutions. Thus, Paine used "common sense" as a weapon to de-legitimize the monarchy and overturn prevailing conventional wisdom. Rosenfeld concludes that the phenomenal appeal of his pamphlet resulted from his synthesis of popular and elite elements in the independence movement. According to historian Robert Middlekauff , Common Sense became immensely popular mainly because Paine appealed to widespread convictions. Monarchy, he said,
11826-452: The colonies. Paine contributed two pieces to the magazine's inaugural issue dated January 1775, and Aitken hired Paine as the Magazine's editor one month later. Under Paine's leadership, the magazine's readership rapidly expanded, achieving a greater circulation in the colonies than any American magazine up until that point. While Aitken had conceived of the magazine as nonpolitical, Paine brought
11972-486: The combination of the two. It was through their use in the Calendar Act that the notations "Old Style" and "New Style" came into common usage. When recording British history, it is usual to quote the date as originally recorded at the time of the event, but with the year number adjusted to start on 1 January. The latter adjustment may be needed because the start of the civil calendar year had not always been 1 January and
12118-550: The company and under the influence of Benjamin Franklin . Upon returning to the United States with this highly welcomed cargo, Paine and probably Col. Laurens, "positively objected" that General Washington should propose that Congress remunerate him for his services, for fear of setting "a bad precedent and an improper mode". Paine made influential acquaintances in Paris and helped organize the Bank of North America to raise money to supply
12264-533: The end of the following December, 1661/62 , a form of dual dating to indicate that in the following twelve weeks or so, the year was 1661 Old Style but 1662 New Style. Some more modern sources, often more academic ones (e.g. the History of Parliament ) also use the 1661/62 style for the period between 1 January and 24 March for years before the introduction of the New Style calendar in England. The Gregorian calendar
12410-454: The favor of the American ambassador, not wanting to risk the alliance with the United States ; therefore, they were more inclined to focus on Paine. Paine was arrested in France on December 28, 1793, following the orders of Vadier . Joel Barlow was unsuccessful in securing Paine's release by circulating a petition among American residents in Paris. He was treated as a political prisoner by
12556-415: The financial connection between Morris, who was Superintendent for Finance of the Continental Congress, and Deane. Wealthy men, such as Robert Morris, John Jay and powerful merchant bankers , were leaders of the Continental Congress and defended holding public positions while at the same time profiting off their own personal financial dealings with governments. Amongst Paine's criticisms, he had written in
12702-663: The first in the UK, was started in the 1990s by Common Cause Co-operative Ltd and is a popular re-invention of Lewes as a market town. The Farmers' Market takes place in pedestrianised Cliffe High Street on the first and third Saturdays of every month, with local food producers coming to sell their wares under covered market stalls. A weekly food market in the Lewes Market Tower was established in July 2010 by Transition Town Lewes to allow traders to sell local produce. Occasionally French traders from
12848-792: The first part of The Age of Reason just before he was arrested. Mark Philp notes that "In prison Paine managed to produce (and to convey to Daniel Isaac Eaton, the radical London publisher) a dedication for The Age of Reason and a new edition of the Rights of Man with a new preface." James Monroe used his diplomatic connections to get Paine released in November 1794. Paine became notorious because of his pamphlets and attacks on his former allies, who he felt had betrayed him. In The Age of Reason and other writings, he advocated Deism , promoted reason and freethought , and argued against religion in general and Christian doctrine in particular. In 1796, he published
12994-431: The formal, learned style favored by many of Paine's contemporaries. Scholars have put forward various explanations to account for its success, including the historic moment, Paine's easy-to-understand style, his democratic ethos, and his use of psychology and ideology. Common Sense was immensely popular in disseminating to a very wide audience ideas that were already in common use among the elite who comprised Congress and
13140-529: The fraud and imposition of monarchy ... to promote universal peace, civilization, and commerce, and to break the chains of political superstition, and raise degraded man to his proper rank; if these things be libellous ... let the name of libeller be engraved on my tomb." Paine was an enthusiastic supporter of the French Revolution and was granted honorary French citizenship alongside prominent contemporaries such as Alexander Hamilton , George Washington , Benjamin Franklin and others. Paine's honorary citizenship
13286-515: The governance section, the town is also where three tiers of local government have their headquarters, and the head office of Sussex Police is also in Lewes. The town's most important annual event is the Lewes Bonfire celebrations on 5 November, Guy Fawkes Night . In Lewes this event not only marks the date of the uncovering of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, but also commemorates the memory of
13432-477: The leadership cadre of the emerging nation, who rarely cited Paine's arguments in their public calls for independence. The pamphlet probably had little direct influence on the Continental Congress' decision to issue a Declaration of Independence , since that body was more concerned with how declaring independence would affect the war effort. One distinctive idea in Common Sense is Paine's beliefs regarding
13578-682: The loss of the initial ⟨h⟩ in hlæw would be unlikely phonologically in this context. He suggested that the name Læwe instead derives from the rare Old English word lǣw ("wound, incision"), and reflects the fact that from the top of School Hill Lewes overlooks the narrow, steep-sided "gash" where the River Ouse cuts through the line of the South Downs. This theory was endorsed in 2011 by A Dictionary of British Place Names . A third possibility has been advanced by Richard Coates , who has argued that Læwe derives from lexowia , an Old English word meaning "hillside, slope" (of which there
13724-449: The magazine to discuss worker rights to production. This shift in the conceptualization of politics has been described as a part of "the 'modernization' of political consciousness," and the mobilization of ever greater sections of society into political life. Paine has a claim to the title The Father of the American Revolution , which rests on his pamphlets, especially Common Sense, which crystallized sentiment for independence in 1776. It
13870-484: The manuscript to publisher Joseph Johnson . A visit by government agents dissuaded Johnson, so Paine gave the book to publisher J. S. Jordan, then went to Paris, on William Blake 's advice. He charged three good friends, William Godwin , Thomas Brand Hollis , and Thomas Holcroft , with handling publication details. The book appeared on March 13, 1791, and sold nearly a million copies. It was "eagerly read by reformers, Protestant dissenters, democrats, London craftsmen, and
14016-536: The nation's leaders. Paine was born on January 29, 1736 ( NS February 9, 1737), the son of Joseph Pain, a tenant farmer and stay-maker , and Frances ( née Cocke ) Pain, in Thetford , Norfolk, England. Joseph was a Quaker and Frances an Anglican . Despite claims that Paine changed the spelling of his family name upon his emigration to America in 1774, he was using "Paine" in 1769, while still in Lewes , Sussex. He attended Thetford Grammar School (1744–1749), at
14162-570: The next day, upon vacancy. While awaiting that, he worked as a staymaker. In 1767, he was appointed to a position in Grampound , Cornwall. Later he asked to leave this post to await a vacancy, and he became a school teacher in London. On February 19, 1768, he was appointed to Lewes in Sussex , a town with a tradition of opposition to the monarchy and pro-republican sentiments since the revolutionary decades of
14308-452: The other, stili novi or stilo novo , abbreviated st.n. and meaning "(of/in) new style". The Latin abbreviations may be capitalised differently by different users, e.g., St.n. or St.N. for stili novi . There are equivalents for these terms in other languages as well, such as the German a.St. (" alter Stil " for O.S.). Usually, the mapping of New Style dates onto Old Style dates with
14454-508: The otherwise unlocatable town of Mutuantonis . Another antiquarian, John Elliot, even suggested that central Lewes's distinctive network of twittens was based on the layout of a Roman legionary fortress ; however modern historians are rather more cautious about the possibility of a Roman Lewes, as there is as yet no archaeological evidence for a built-up area dating back to the Roman period. The earliest phase of Anglo-Saxon settlement in Sussex
14600-505: The pamphlet was Plain Truth , but Paine's friend, pro-independence advocate Benjamin Rush , suggested Common Sense instead. Finding a printer who was daring enough to commit his print shop to the printing of Common Sense was not easy. At the advice of Rush, Paine commissioned Robert Bell to print his work. The pamphlet came into circulation in January 1776, after the Revolution had started. It
14746-485: The peaceful nature of republics; his views were an early and strong conception of what scholars would come to call the democratic peace theory . Loyalists vigorously attacked Common Sense ; one attack, titled Plain Truth (1776), by Marylander James Chalmers , said Paine was a political quack and warned that without monarchy, the government would "degenerate into democracy". Even some American revolutionaries objected to Common Sense ; late in life John Adams called it
14892-469: The poor. On March 26, 1771, at age 34, Paine married Elizabeth Ollive, the daughter of his recently deceased landlord, whose business as a grocer and tobacconist he then entered into. From 1772 to 1773, Paine joined excise officers asking Parliament for better pay and working conditions, publishing, in summer of 1772, The Case of the Officers of Excise , a 12-page article, and his first political work, spending
15038-545: The powerful Lee family, who had been Paine's closest ally in Congress, George Washington , Thomas Jefferson and James Madison , all of whom had claims to huge wild tracts that Paine was advocating should be government owned. The view that Paine had advocated eventually prevailed when the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was passed. The animosity Paine felt as a result of the publication of "Public Good" fueled his decision to embark with Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens on
15184-461: The principal market towns of Sussex, as well as an important port, and by the end of the Georgian era it also had well-developed textiles, iron, brewing, and shipbuilding industries. The severe winter of 1836–7 led to a large build-up of snow on Cliffe Hill, whose sheer western face directly overlooks the town. On Tuesday 27 December 1836 this snow cornice collapsed, and the resulting Lewes avalanche
15330-516: The reign of Alfred the Great onward, as it was one of the towns which he fortified as part of the network of burhs he established in response to the Viking raids . The peace and stability brought by Alfred and his successors evidently stimulated economic activity in the area, for in the late Anglo-Saxon period Lewes seems to have been a thriving boom town – during the reign of Alfred's grandson Æthelstan it
15476-511: The relationship of Henry Laurens and Paine to Robert Morris as the Superintendent of Finance and his business associate, Thomas Willing, who became the first president of the Bank of North America in January 1782. They had accused Morris of profiteering in 1779 and Willing had voted against the Declaration of Independence. Although Morris did much to restore his reputation in 1780 and 1781, the credit for obtaining these critical loans to "organize"
15622-476: The ridge; the summit on that side, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) distant is known as Mount Harry. On the east bank there is a large chalk cliff , Cliffe Hill that can be seen for many miles, part of the group of hills including Mount Caburn , Malling Down (where there are a few houses in a wooded area on the hillside, in a development known as Cuilfail) and Golf Hill (home to the Lewes Golf Club). The two banks of
15768-525: The river and contains a number of light industrial and creative industry uses, as well as car parks and a fire station. A potential regeneration project (formerly "The North Street Quarter", renamed "The Phoenix Project" by the Lewes-based eco-development company Human Nature which took on ownership of the land in December 2020) for the area would be the largest in Lewes since the South Malling residential area
15914-496: The river are joined by Willey's Bridge (a footbridge), the Phoenix Causeway (a recent concrete road bridge, named after the old Phoenix Ironworks) and Cliffe Bridge (an 18th-century replacement of the mediaeval crossing, widened in the 1930s and now semi-pedestrianised). The High Street runs from Eastgate to West-Out, forming the spine of the ancient town. Cliffe Hill gives its name to the one-time village of Cliffe, now part of
16060-529: The seat for 18 years until defeated in 2015 by Conservative Maria Caulfield , who retained her seat in the 2017 and 2019 general elections. As of July 2024, Liberal Democrat James MacCleary is the MP. You can see Lewes lying like a box of toys under a great amphitheatre of chalk hills ... on the whole it is set down better than any town I have seen in England. Lewes is situated on the Greenwich or Prime Meridian , in
16206-741: The seventeen Lewes Martyrs , Protestants burnt at the stake for their faith during the Marian Persecutions . The celebrations, which controversially involve burning an effigy of Pope Paul V , who was pope during the Gunpowder Plot, are the largest and most famous Bonfire Night celebrations in the country. The Lewes Chamber of Commerce represents the traders and businesses of the town. The town has been identified as unusually diversified with numerous specialist, independent retailers, counter to national trends toward 'chain' retailers and large corporate retail outlets. Lewes Farmers' Market, one of
16352-656: The skilled factory-hands of the new industrial north". Undeterred by the government campaign to discredit him, Paine issued his Rights of Man, Part the Second, Combining Principle and Practice in February 1792. Detailing a representative government with enumerated social programs to remedy the numbing poverty of commoners through progressive tax measures, Paine went much farther than such contemporaries as James Burgh , Robert Potter, John Scott, John Sinclair or Adam Smith . Radically reduced in price to ensure unprecedented circulation, it
16498-429: The smaller industrial units. The town is a net daytime exporter of employees with a significant community working in London and Brighton whilst it draws in employees of the numerous local government and public service functions on which its local economy is strongly dependent. An important part of the town's economy is based on tourism, because of the town's many historic attractions and its location. As referenced in
16644-556: The stake in front of the Star Inn (now the site of Lewes Town Hall ). Commemoration of the martyrs is one of the main purposes of Lewes Bonfire , and a stone memorial to the martyrs was unveiled on Cliffe Hill in 1901. Lewesian politics was dominated by a strongly Puritan faction in the reign of Charles I , and during the English Civil War it was one of the most important Parliamentarian strongholds in Sussex. As such it became
16790-452: The target of a royalist attack in December 1642, but the royalist army was intercepted and defeated at the Battle of Muster Green by Parliamentarian forces commanded by Herbert Morley , one of the two Members of Parliament (MPs) for Lewes. Lewes recovered relatively quickly after the Civil War, and prospered during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It had always been one of
16936-501: The term in a way that permanently impacted American political thought. He used two ideas from Scottish Common Sense Realism : that ordinary people can indeed make sound judgments on major political issues, and that there exists a body of popular wisdom that is readily apparent to anyone. Paine also used a notion of "common sense" favored by philosophes in the Continental Enlightenment. They held that common sense could refute
17082-409: The times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it
17228-414: The town hall, including a new frontage to High Street, which was completed in 1893. The municipal borough of Lewes was abolished in 1974 when the larger Lewes District was established. A successor parish was created covering the area of the former borough, with the parish council taking the name Lewes Town Council. Following the 2023 election the composition of the town council was: The next election
17374-471: The town was made a municipal borough . The town was then run by a corporate body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Lewes", informally known as the corporation or town council. The last constable became the first mayor. In 1890, the town council acquired the former Star Inn at 189 High Street, parts of which date back to the fourteenth century, and the adjoining corn exchange. The buildings were converted and extended to become
17520-419: The town's administration were recognised in 1806 when separate improvement commissioners were established to pave, light and repair the streets and provide a watch . When local government in towns was reformed across the country in the 1830s, Lewes was one of the boroughs left unreformed , and so it continued to be run by its jury and improvement commissioners. The situation was finally regularised in 1881 when
17666-531: The town, which is also used by Lewes District Council as its meeting place. Lewes was an ancient borough , although the structure of its early government is obscure. For much of the Middle Ages the town was run by a closed aristocratic organisation known as the "Fellowship of the Twelve", which was gradually eclipsed by a body known as the jury in the seventeenth century, presided over by a constable. The limitations of
17812-575: The town. A new route reaching the town at the Railway Land – the Egrets Way – initially conceived in 2011 by the Ouse Valley Cycle Network, has been designed as a network of walking and cycling paths linking Lewes and Newhaven with the villages in between. Three Sites of Special Scientific Interest lie within the parish: Lewes Downs , Lewes Brooks and Southerham Works Pit . Lewes Downs
17958-515: The town. The southern part of the town, Southover, came into being as a village adjacent to the Priory, south of the Winterbourne Stream. At the north of the town's original wall boundary is the St John's or Pells area, home to several 19th-century streets and the Pells Pond. The Pells Pool , built in 1860, is the oldest freshwater lido in England. The Phoenix Industrial Estate lies along the west bank of
18104-474: The tract led to a trial and conviction in absentia in England in 1792 for the crime of seditious libel . The British government of William Pitt the Younger was worried by the possibility that the French Revolution might spread to Britain and had begun suppressing works that espoused radical philosophies. Paine's work advocated the right of the people to overthrow their government and was therefore targeted with
18250-485: The train station and running a cake stall at weekends outside Lewes Castle . In 2020, the group claims to have infiltrated the council and Harvey's brewery, although they have never contested a local or parliamentary election. Lewes gives its name to the Lewes parliamentary constituency . The constituency was held by the Conservatives from the 1870s until 1997, when it was won by Liberal Democrat Norman Baker . He held
18396-598: The translator was deceiving the convention by distorting the meanings of Paine's words, prompting Paine to provide a copy of the speech as proof that he was being correctly translated. Paine wrote the second part of Rights of Man on a desk in Thomas 'Clio' Rickman 's house, with whom he was staying in 1792 before he fled to France. This desk is currently on display in the People's History Museum in Manchester . Regarded as an ally of
18542-571: The village of Glynde starting in Cliffe, traverse the Lewes Brooks (an RSPB reserve) from Southover, walk to Kingston near Lewes also from Southover, head up Landport Bottom to Mount Harry and Black Cap along the edge of the old Lewes Racecourse, or wander up along the Ouse to Hamsey Place from the Pells. The South Downs Way crosses the Ouse just south of Lewes at Southease and hikers often stop off at
18688-422: Was a clarion call for unity against the corrupt British court, so as to realize America's providential role in providing an asylum for liberty. Written in a direct and lively style, it denounced the decaying despotisms of Europe and pilloried hereditary monarchy as an absurdity. At a time when many still hoped for reconciliation with Britain, Common Sense demonstrated to many the inevitability of separation. Paine
18834-474: Was altered at different times in different countries. From 1155 to 1752, the civil or legal year in England began on 25 March ( Lady Day ); so for example, the execution of Charles I was recorded at the time in Parliament as happening on 30 January 164 8 (Old Style). In newer English-language texts, this date is usually shown as "30 January 164 9 " (New Style). The corresponding date in the Gregorian calendar
18980-523: Was assigned two royal moneyers , more than any other mint in Sussex, and according to Domesday Book it generated £26 of revenue for the Crown in 1065, almost twice the amount of any other town in the county. After the Norman Conquest , William the Conqueror rewarded his retainer William de Warenne by making him Earl of Surrey and granting him the Rape of Lewes , a strip of land stretching along
19126-508: Was captured, and the king himself was forced to sign the Mise of Lewes , a document which does not survive but was probably aimed at forcing Henry to uphold the Provisions of Oxford . Despite this uncertainty about its consequences, the battle is often seen as an important milestone in the development of English democracy. The de Warenne family died out with Earl John in 1347, whereupon lordship of
19272-587: Was celebrated as the New Year festival from as early as the 13th century, despite the recorded (civil) year not incrementing until 25 March, but the "year starting 25th March was called the Civil or Legal Year, although the phrase Old Style was more commonly used". To reduce misunderstandings about the date, it was normal even in semi-official documents such as parish registers to place a statutory new-year heading after 24 March (for example "1661") and another heading from
19418-543: Was concentrated between the Rivers Ouse and Cuckmere , and Anglo-Saxon finds begin to appear in Lewes from the sixth century. The town of Lewes was probably founded around this time, and it may have been one of the most important settlements in the Kingdom of Sussex , along with Chichester and Hastings , though the evidence for this early period is very sketchy. By the ninth century, the Kingdom of Sussex had been annexed to
19564-400: Was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and in the South Downs since it became a National Park. Malling lies to the east of the river and had 18th- and 19th-century houses and two notable breweries. Road engineering and local planning policy in the 1970s cleared many older buildings here to allow the flow of traffic; the main road route east from the town now goes along Little East Street, across
19710-616: Was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society . In 1787, Paine proposed a iron bridge design for crossing the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia. Having little success in acquiring funding, Paine returned to Paris, France seeking investors or other opportunities to implement his, at the time, novel iron bridge design. Because Paine had few friends when arriving in France aside from Lafayette and Jefferson, he continued to correspond heavily with Benjamin Franklin,
19856-545: Was implemented in Russia on 14 February 1918 by dropping the Julian dates of 1–13 February 1918 , pursuant to a Sovnarkom decree signed 24 January 1918 (Julian) by Vladimir Lenin . The decree required that the Julian date was to be written in parentheses after the Gregorian date, until 1 July 1918. It is common in English-language publications to use the familiar Old Style or New Style terms to discuss events and personalities in other countries, especially with reference to
20002-545: Was in recognition of the publishing of his Rights of Man, Part II and the sensation it created within France. Despite his inability to speak French, he was elected to the National Convention , representing the district of Pas-de-Calais . Several weeks after his election to the National Convention, Paine was selected as one of nine deputies to be part of the convention's Constitutional Committee, charged to draft
20148-432: Was not on the whole expressing original ideas in Common Sense , but rather employing rhetoric as a means to arouse resentment of the Crown. To achieve these ends, he pioneered a style of political writing suited to the democratic society he envisioned, with Common Sense serving as a primary example. Part of Paine's work was to render complex ideas intelligible to average readers of the day, with clear, concise writing unlike
20294-502: Was passed around and often read aloud in taverns, contributing significantly to spreading the idea of republicanism, bolstering enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army . Paine provided a new and convincing argument for independence by advocating a complete break with history. Common Sense is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an immediate choice. It offers
20440-594: Was preposterous and it had a heathenish origin. It was an institution of the devil. Paine pointed to the Old Testament , where almost all kings had seduced the Israelites to worship idols instead of God. Paine also denounced aristocracy, which together with monarchy were "two ancient tyrannies." They violated the laws of nature, human reason, and the "universal order of things," which began with God. That was, Middlekauff says, exactly what most Americans wanted to hear. He calls
20586-456: Was published in Philadelphia on January 10, 1776, and signed anonymously "by an Englishman". It was an immediate success, with Paine estimating it sold 100,000 copies in three months to the two million residents of the 13 colonies. During the course of the American Revolution, one biographer estimated a total of about 500,000 copies were sold, including unauthorized editions. However, some historians dispute these numbers. Paine's original title for
20732-517: Was scandal; together with Paine's conflict with Robert Morris and Silas Deane , it led to Paine's expulsion from the Committee in 1779. However, in 1781, he accompanied John Laurens on his mission to France. Eventually, after much pleading from Paine, New York State recognized his political services by presenting him with an estate at New Rochelle , New York and Paine received money from Pennsylvania and from Congress at Washington's suggestion. During
20878-425: Was sensational in its impact and gave birth to reform societies. An indictment for seditious libel followed, for both publisher and author, while government agents followed Paine and instigated mobs, hate meetings, and burnings in effigy. A fierce pamphlet war also resulted, in which Paine was defended and assailed in dozens of works. The authorities aimed, with ultimate success, to force Paine out of Great Britain. He
21024-472: Was the deadliest ever recorded in Britain. The avalanche struck the cottages on Boulters Row (now part of South Street), burying fifteen people, of whom eight died. A pub in South Street is named The Snowdrop in memory of the event. In 1846, the town became a railway junction, with lines constructed from the north, south and east to two railway stations. The development of Newhaven ended Lewes's period as
21170-480: Was the site of the Battle of Lewes . The town's landmarks include Lewes Castle , Lewes Priory , Bull House (the former home of Thomas Paine ), Southover Grange and public gardens, and a 16th-century timber-framed Wealden hall house known as Anne of Cleves House . Other notable features of the area include the Glyndebourne festival, the Lewes Bonfire celebrations and the Lewes Pound . The place-name "Lewes"
21316-487: Was then tried in absentia and found guilty, but he was beyond the reach of British law. The French translation of Rights of Man, Part II was published in April 1792. The translator, François Lanthenas, eliminated the dedication to Lafayette, as he believed Paine thought too highly of Lafayette, who was seen as a royalist sympathizer at the time. In summer of 1792, he answered the sedition and libel charges thus: "If, to expose
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