Thomas Paine was one of the Founding Fathers. He was a prolific and persuasive pamphleteer — the intellectual leader of that august group. Many of his revolutionary ideas became part of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

His principal contributions were the powerful, widely-read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), advocating colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The [American] Crisis (1776-1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. Later works include Agrarian Justice (discussed below) and The Rights of Man.

His best-seller Common Sense (1776) was the rallying cry for seeking independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

He wrote The [American] Crisis¹, a series of pamphlets intended to

• bolster the wartime morale of the American warriors
• remind the American public of what we were doing and why
• appeal to the English people, to help them understand the issues at stake in the war

Were Paine's pamphlet sales adjusted to reflect population growth in the past 225+ years, he would be - by far - the best selling American author of all time. Also, his pamphlets were widely exchanged and passed around, thereby reaching an even larger audience.

Agrarian Justice is the title of a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, published in approximately 1796In that publication, Paine advocated the use of an estate tax to fund a universal old-age and disability pension, as well as a fixed sum to be paid to all citizens on reaching maturity. If that sounds familiar, it should. Agrarian Justice laid the foundation for Roosevelt's New Deal - especially Social Security.

Having read a sermon by Richard Watson, the Bishop of Llandaff, which discussed the "Wisdom ... of God, in having made both Rich and Poor", Paine decided to publish Agrarian Justice. In it he argues that "rich" and "poor" are not divinely created distinctions.

¹ The [American] Crisis begins with familiar and eloquent words: "THESE are 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 by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

Now, onward toward Thomas Paine's Agrarian Justice. It is short (12 pages, spaced like a term paper), and it's an easy read.

Quick summary:

In Agrarian Justice, Paine proposed a detailed plan to tax property owners to pay for the needs of the poor.

Keep in mind that then, as now, many people are one paycheck away from poverty. Even the most industrious of people can be devastated by medical expenses, infirmity, aging, economic downturns, accidents, crime, deaths, separations in families, and other tragedies. Being poor, then as now, is not a luxury enjoyed only by the lazy and the wastrels among us.

Under Paine's plan, the money would be raised by taxing

• direct inheritances at 10%
  
• "indirect" inheritances - those not going to close relations - at a somewhat higher rate.

He estimated that this would raise around £5,700,000 per year in England.

Around two-thirds of the fund would be spent on

• pension payments of £10 per year to every person over the age of fifty, which Paine had taken as his average adult life expectancy
  most of the remainder allocated to
  
• making one-time payments of £15 to every man and woman on reaching the age of twenty-one, the age of legal majority
• the small remainder would then be able to be used for paying pensions to "the lame and blind."
  

For context, the average weekly wage of an agricultural labourer was around 9 shillings, which would mean an annual income of about £23 for an able-bodied man working throughout the year.

Now, click to read or download Thomas Paine's Agrarian Justice.