Paine's Rights of Man: Defending the French Revolution

Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man (1791–1792) was the most widely read and most influential defense of the French Revolution published in Britain. The book was a systematic response to Edmund Burke’s conservative Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), and it developed a comprehensive argument for republican government, against the hereditary principle, and for a system of social welfare. This article examines the central arguments of Rights of Man and its lasting influence on democratic and socialist thought.

The Context of the Book

Rights of Man was written in the context of the French Revolution and the British debate about its proper interpretation. The French Revolution, which had begun in 1789, had produced a series of dramatic events, including the storming of the Bastille, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the abolition of feudalism, and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. The events were watched with great interest in Britain, and they produced a heated debate about their proper meaning and their implications for British politics.

Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) was the most famous British response to the events. Burke, who had initially been sympathetic to the American Revolution, was deeply hostile to the French Revolution. He argued that the French revolutionaries were attempting to rebuild society from first principles, in violation of the accumulated wisdom of past generations, and that the proper political life was one that respected the inherited institutions and practices of a particular community.

Paine’s Rights of Man was a direct response to Burke. The book was written in the form of a letter to Burke, and it subjected Burke’s arguments to a systematic critical examination. The book was an immediate success, and it became the most widely read defense of the French Revolution published in the English language.

The Central Arguments

Rights of Man is organized around four main arguments.

The first argument is that the French Revolution is the beginning of a new era in human history. The principles of liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty, which the French revolutionaries had proclaimed, were, in Paine’s view, the basic principles of legitimate government, and their establishment in France was the first step in a worldwide revolution that would eventually transform the political life of every nation.

The second argument is that the hereditary principle is illegitimate. The doctrine that political authority should be transmitted by hereditary succession is, in Paine’s view, inconsistent with the principles of reason and natural rights. The proper basis of political authority is the consent of the governed, and the proper system of government is one in which the people govern themselves through elected representatives.

The third argument is that aristocratic privilege is illegitimate. The doctrine that some human beings are, by virtue of their birth, entitled to special political and economic privileges is, in Paine’s view, a form of robbery. The proper system of government is one in which all citizens are equal before the law, and in which no one is entitled to special privileges by virtue of birth.

The fourth argument is that the proper role of government is not only to protect the negative rights of the citizens, but also to provide for their positive welfare. Paine proposed a comprehensive system of social welfare, including progressive taxation, family allowances, old-age pensions, and public employment, and he argued that these measures were both economically feasible and morally necessary.

The Programme of Social Welfare

The most distinctive feature of Rights of Man is its programme of social welfare. Paine was the first major political writer to propose a comprehensive system of state-provided social welfare, and the proposals in Rights of Man have had a profound influence on the subsequent development of the welfare state.

The proposals include:

A system of progressive taxation, in which the rich would pay a higher proportion of their income in taxes than the poor.

Family allowances, in which the state would provide financial support to families with children.

Old-age pensions, in which the state would provide financial support to the elderly.

Public employment, in which the state would provide work for those who are unable to find employment in the private economy.

A system of public education, in which the state would provide free education to all children.

Paine argued that these measures were both economically feasible and morally necessary. The wealth of the nation, in his view, was sufficient to provide for the basic needs of all citizens, and the proper use of this wealth was to provide for the welfare of the entire community, not just the wealthy few.

The Reception of the Book

Rights of Man was widely read and widely discussed. The book was reprinted in dozens of editions in the months following its publication, and it was translated into every major European language. The total circulation has been estimated at about one million copies, an enormous number for the time.

The book was also widely attacked. The British government, fearing that the book would encourage revolutionary sentiment, issued a proclamation against seditious writings, and Paine was indicted for treason. He fled to France in 1792, narrowly escaping arrest, and he was later elected to the French National Convention as a deputy for the Pas-de-Calais.

The Legacy

Rights of Man has had a profound influence on the development of modern political thought. The book is a basic reference for the democratic and socialist traditions, and it has been an inspiration to political reformers throughout the world.

The basic insights of Paine — the rejection of monarchy and aristocracy, the appeal to natural rights, the commitment to popular sovereignty, the commitment to social welfare — have become basic features of contemporary democratic and socialist thought. The programme of social welfare in Rights of Man is particularly important. The proposals anticipate, by more than a century, the development of the modern welfare state, and they have been an important source of the contemporary commitment to social welfare as a basic responsibility of government. The contemporary debate about the proper scope of social welfare, about the proper role of government in addressing the problems of poverty and inequality, and about the proper relationship between individual liberty and the common good is, a continuation of the debate that Paine began in Rights of Man.

Further Reading

• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (plato.stanford.edu), relevant entry
• The Cambridge Companion to [Thinker] (Cambridge University Press)
• Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty (1969)