An Extensive Republic - pg.58-74
The Revolution's Legacy for the History of the Book
Richard D. Brown
For this week, I was struck by a particular passage in which Richard Brown discusses Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
"Paine crystallized a broad, popular sense of citizenship, jealous of privilege and eager to use print to enter into discussions of public affairs. Although they were suspicious of privilege and galvanized by Paine's earthy rhetoric, in the quest for greater political influence common folk would in time be reading many of the same literary, historical, and political texts that circulated among the elite and emulating genteel rhetoric." (67)
Man, I find this fascinating. It reminds me of the suspicious attitude that is put on academics, that whole "too much knowledge" thing that I've always been baffled by. It made me laugh, first of all, and I think it's a really great and important point. To think of someone getting all up in arms after reading Common Sense and charging around with a mind to weigh in on public affairs, but then realizing that maybe they have more in common with the "elite" than they expected? Kinda cute, Americans.
I guess this really says something about the idea that the circulation of knowledge as it reflects on who has the "control" of the nation. While texts like Common Sense incite excited patriotism and a desire to become involved in public affairs, they are also promoting education beyond their pages by influencing their readers to quest for "greater political influence".
Hi Emilee, I liked the Brown quote you pulled out. I also was intrigued by his discussion of Paine. We often have a hard time realizing just how important Common Sense was--how radical and revolutionary. We take most of the old republican ideas of government for granted, and yet Paine wrote at a time when they were so new and subversive. good stuff to think about and discuss. dw
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