"We have it in our power to begin the world over again," wrote Thomas Paine in 1776. Paine was one of the most remarkable political writers of the modern world and the greatest radical of a radical age, a man who, according to historian Harvey J. Kaye, "not only turned America's colonial rebellion into a revolutionary war but articulated an American identity charged with exceptional purpose and promise. While the powers that be repeatedly sought to suppress, defame, and most recently co-opt Paine's memory, generations of radical and liberal Americans turned to Paine for inspiration as they endeavored to expand American freedom, equality, and democracy... Paine turned Americans into radicals and we have remained radicals at heart ever since."
"Thomas Paine's Legacy" will explore the "revolutionary spirit" as it has evolved here in Philadelphia by focusing on the experience and significance of Philadelphians who sought to "begin the world again" through their progressive and radical politics since 1776 when Paine first published Common Sense. Many of these movements share similar strategies and tactics (boycotts, civil disobedience, innovative uses of media) and a commitment to continually redefining and pushing American visions of equality across its political, economic and social fault lines.
Drawing from both writers of historical non-fiction and fiction, as well as activists who have been involved in progressive movements in Philadelphia since the 1940s, the program series will unite academic and lived history for a unique perspective Four presentations, each at a different institution dedicated to connecting contemporary Philadelphian's with their history and culture, will focus on a different aspect of Paine's revolutionary legacy as embodied in four critical historic moments: the Revolutionary moment, the industrial era, post-War struggles for civil rights and social equality, and contemporary struggles for justice both nationally and internationally.