Talk:Thomas Paine

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 18 January 2022 and 5 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Annabellecrtrt (article contribs).

"African Slavery in America"

The article has been attributed to Paine, but authorship analysis points to Samuel Hopkins

http://thomaspaine.org/questionable-authorship/african-slavery-in-america.html

Which English?

Per this edit can we please agree on an English in which this article should be, and mark it up accordingly? I'm inclined these days to agree that it should probably – nay, almost certainly – be marked as AmE, though I don't agree it is a complete no-brainer. If others agree on AmE (or something else but I do think that is unlikely) then we can mark it up and perhaps minimize later to-and-fro. What do you think? Best to all, DBaK (talk) 12:07, 20 December 2021 (UTC)

Anyone? The debate has not exactly set the Thames, nor indeed the Hudson, on fire so far. If the tumbleweed continues I might just assume that people are OK with AmE and go ahead. Fair enough? Cheers DBaK (talk) 13:55, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

AmE seems like the more fitting choice. I don’t think Paine’s place in the UK is as revered. Strebe (talk) 23:19, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

Paine is not an important figure in British political thought, not compared to Hume (or, from the previous century, Hobbes), and is not commonly quoted or referred to in Britain except as a marginal character that the American revolutionaries admired. Khamba Tendal (talk) 17:48, 3 July 2023 (UTC)

Hello Wikipedia and Wikipedia readers - in respect of the above comment from Khamba Tendal

• 'Paine is not an important figure in British political thought, not compared to Hume (or, from the previous century, Hobbes)' This is untrue, indeed Paine is considered an important and key figure in British political thought.
• 'is not commonly quoted or referred to in Britain except as a marginal character that the American revolutionaries admired.' This is also untrue, indeed Paine is, where appropriate, commonly quoted and referred to in the UK (which includes but is not synonymous with Britain) Also, that Khamba Tendal uses the term 'American revolutionaries' is suggestive he/she is from the US as that term is not in common use in the UK. If, as their language suggests, he/she is American their experience to make such a huge and generalised claim is doubtful.
• Their unsupported, and incorrect, claim must be refuted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2003:d3:ff2c:3ffe:1e:c9e1:b565:7dcc (talk) 09:03, 5 May 2024 (UTC)

I don't see the need to reopen a discussion from ten months ago, or why Khamba Tendal decided to reopen a discussion after 18 months, but from looking at the article the {{Use American English}} template was added in April 2023 and this has never been challenged in more than 50 edits in the meantime. In my opinion, he is regarded as an "American founding father" and it is more relevant to use American English. Also, I am from Scotland (a country on the island of Great Britain and within the United Kingdom) and I would use the term "American revolutionaries", and am not sure how else you would (in 2024, at least) expect a British person to refer to a key figure from the American revolution. Perhaps in the 18th century we would have used more loaded terms (e.g. rebels, traitors, etc.), but I'm pretty sure I can say with confidence that the vast majority of us Brits have come to terms with the loss of our former colony and use the term "revolutionaries". I am confused as to why you think Khamba Tendal's use of the term suggests they are from the US. If you can provide reliable sources which verify that Paine is considered more of a British figure than an American one, this might be a discussion worth having. As it stands, though, I don't think it adds anything to the quality of the article to be resurrecting a stale conversation about whether this article should use American or British English. --Adam Black ^{talk • contributions} 14:40, 5 May 2024 (UTC)

'If you can provide reliable sources which verify that Paine is considered more of a British figure than an American one' Why do you ask me to provide support for a claim I did not make? Though, I do wait Khamba Tendal to provide support for his/her claims; until then Hitchen's razor is applied.

'but I'm pretty sure I can say with confidence that the vast majority of us Brits have come to terms with the loss of our former colony' Rather bold of you to feel you are able to speak for millions of people. Nevertheless, the relevance of your confidence of the opinions of others escapes me.

Strange omission

Why does Thomas Paine#The Age of Reason make no mention of his writing The Age of Reason? – .Raven  .talk 21:30, 17 June 2023 (UTC)

Strange! -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 22:01, 17 June 2023 (UTC)

Paine Spent Less Than 10 Years of His 72 Years of Life in America

Paine advocated against pluralism and for a uniform approach to governance across states (no states, just superNations), and he called George Washington a Jacobin as an insult. This article is highly deceptive, and I hope someone with standing will edit it appropriately. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.144.246.119 (talk) 19:31, 25 February 2024 (UTC)