Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s January 29, 1776. I’m with Englishman-turned-Patriot Thomas Paine.
JG: “Mr. Paine, what is the main premise of your pamphlet, Common Sense?”
TP: “Mr. Gillespie, I used the Bible as a key source of my ideas. Listen to my words in Common Sense: ‘Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, ‘I will not rule over you… the Lord shall rule over you.’ Words need not be clearer. The prophet urges them to give proper respect to the Sovereign King of Heaven.”
The key to America’s revolution was the emphasis on the rule of law, based on God’s rule over man.
George Washington was so impressed with Paine’s pamphlet that he had it read to his troops before battle.
George Washington is quoted as writing the following to a friend in Massachusetts: “I find that Common Sense is working a powerful change there in the minds of many men. Few pamphlets have had so dramatic an effect on political events.”
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
