Thomas Paine was many things: author, radical, inventor, intellectual, and revolutionary; but he was also considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
His 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, was considered so influential to the American revolutionary cause that it was reportedly said at the time that “without the pen of the author of ‘Common Sense,’ the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”
You would think such a work would be a celebrated part of American history and discussed in classrooms across the nation, but the truth is it has a long history of being censored.
Read on and Share the Knowledge:
http://bbark.deepforestproductions.com/column/2011/08/28/banned-books-awareness-thomas-paine/
As Mark Twain used to say ‘All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.’