Thomas Paine, Common Sense and a Plan for America
To the extent that historians give Thomas Paine credit for playing a significant role in the American Revolutionary Cause, it was his rousing call fo... View MoreThomas Paine, Common Sense and a Plan for America
To the extent that historians give Thomas Paine credit for playing a significant role in the American Revolutionary Cause, it was his rousing call for independence in his widely read tract Common Sense, published January 9, 1776, that most agree was his chief contribution to America’s decision to separate from British rule. Paine turned up the heat of the debate, stirred the pot and brought to a boil the already simmering revolutionary thoughts taking hold in America by shouting out loud “TIS TIME TO PART.” Although most Americans did not know who the anonymous author of the pamphlet was at first, Paine yanked the arguments and whispers for independence loitering in the back alleys and flung them out onto the streets for all to read and hear.
“To the extent” because not all historians, or even some of Paine’s own contemporaries, acknowledged his pivotal role in spurring Americans toward independence. Pauline Maier in her book American Scripture, for example, downplayed Paine’s contributions, giving the credit to John Adams for pushing the independence movement forward.[1] And for his part, Adams, an early admirer (and jealous) of Paine’s writings and popular appeal, turned sour toward the man and his ideas over time (“a Star of Disaster”). Adams concluded there was nothing original in Paine’s pamphlet, that it only repeated “common place arguments for independence” that Paine picked up here and there as a newcomer to Philadelphia.[2]
There is some truth to Adams’s latter charge. Paine later admitted that until he arrived in America from England in December 1774 (carrying with him two letters of introduction by Benjamin Franklin whom he had met in London), he “had no thoughts of independence or of arms.”[3] That all changed with the breakout of hostilities the following April at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. By then, he had been serving several months as editor of Robert Aitken’s Pennsylvania Magazine and soon after was thinking of composing a pamphlet on the rising conflict.
To this day, Paine is mostly remembered for his fiery rebellious writings during revolutionary times, here in America and later on during similar periods of political upheaval in England and France. A rebel with a cause.
But to the author, independence was only part of the picture. The real question he posed in Common Sense was, he said, what happens next? A fear of the unknown, Paine believed, was tugging against any steps toward independence.
So, Common Sense offered what Paine called some “hints” to address that fear. It outlined a plan. And among the proposals were several that smack of originality. Having spent the first part of Common Sense offering a scathing criticism of the British monarchy, nobility and hereditary rule, Paine advanced a different idea, one built entirely around republican principles.
The pamphlet offered the following brief but packed recipe for American governance: “Let the assemblies be annual, with a President only. The representation more equal. Their business wholly domestic, and subject to the authority of a Continental Congress.”[4] Gone was the monarchy, any hint of hereditary privilege and the separation of powers and checks and balances. The latter omission disturbed Adams: Paine’s proposals, he said, were far too “democratical.”
Paine recommended that a “Continental Conference” be called for purposes of framing a “Continental Charter, or Charter of the United Colonies . . . fixing the number and manner of choosing members of Congress, members of the Assembly, with their date of sitting, and drawing the line of business and jurisdiction between them. (Always remembering, that our strength is continental.)” This charter should secure
freedom and property to all men and, above all things, the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience … Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING.[5]
At least one future scholar found in Paine’s “hints” some fundamental principles of a nascent American constitutionalism. Political scientist Edward S. Corwin wrote the following about Paine’s scheme in Common Sense: “In this singular mixture of sense and fantasy, so characteristic of its author, are adumbrated a national constitutional convention, the dual plan of our federal system, a national bill of rights, and ‘worship of the Constitution.’”[6]
There are several notable takeaways from Paine’s succinct suggestions. First, he called for a written constitution to replace Britain’s unwritten version. Second, he proposed a dual system of government, based on national supremacy. To achieve that, the constitution would distribute powers to both the national and subordinate governments. That fundamental principle undergirds American federalism. Third, in a republican form of government, the powers of government must rest ultimately on the authority of the people. That is the principle of popular sovereignty. As James Madison put it, “the difference between a system founded on the legislatures only, and one founded on the people, [is] the true difference between a league or treaty, and a Constitution.”[7]
For Paine, the venerable English constitution was no guarantee against absolutism: “though we [Englishmen] have been wise enough to shut and lock a door against absolute Monarchy, we at the same time have been foolish enough to put the crown in possession of the key.”[8] And he ridiculed the British model of separation of powers and checks and balances, by arguing that in practice, the back and forth checks among king, lords and commons on each other were farcical. An example:
as the same constitution which gives the Commons a power to check the king by withholding the supplies, gives afterwards the king a power to check the Commons, by empowering him to reject their other bills … it supposes that the king is wiser than those whom it has already supposed to be wiser than him. A mere absurdity![9]
So, Paine ignored the doctrine of separation of powers in his recommendations for America.
Who then should call for the Continental Charter? Here Paine offered details:
A committee of twenty-six members of Congress, viz. two for each colony. Two Members from each House of Assembly, or Provincial Convention; and five representatives of the people at large, to be chosen in the capital city or town of each province, for and in behalf of the whole province, by as many qualified voters as shall think proper to attend from all parts of the province for that purpose … In this conference, thus assembled, will be united, the two grand principles of business, knowledge and power. The members of Congress, Assemblies, or Conventions, by having had experience in national concerns, will be able and useful counsellors, and the whole, being impowered by the people, will have a truly legal authority.[10]
These ideas emerged later in the principles of the American Constitution of 1787 after being ignored in America’s first national constitution, the Articles of Confederation. That constitution was designed by government, the Second Continental Congress soon after Independence was declared. No independent “Continental Charter,” or constitutional convention for the purpose of framing a government, as Paine had recommended, occurred at that time.
At least his idea of a unicameral legislature was right in line with the Articles. It was comprised of a single national Congress (but with limited powers). It too created no independent executive or judiciary. But Paine did not subscribe to what became the fatal flaw of the Articles, the superiority of state powers.
From the beginning, his instincts were nationalist. He argued repeatedly in Common Sense and other early writings in early 1776 that the “continental belt was too loosely buckled,” that unless the America acted in unison in such times, not only would it not achieve independence, but it would also be likely to fail even if it did.
Paine’s Common Sense was more than mere rabble rousing. Not only did the famous pamphlet help the colonies’ break their dependence on Great Britain, but it also outlined constructive ideas for the creation of a republican government for the nation.
It did not take long for John Adams to respond to Paine’s recommendations for governance. He rushed into print his own Thoughts on Government in the spring of 1776 to provide a counterpoint, an antidote to Paine’s prescriptions in Common Sense.[11] Advocating for a system of separation of powers and checks and balances, he argued vigorously for measures to ensure limits on popular government. And with that, a long-lasting debate began: Just how democratic should the republic be?
[1] Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997, 91-96.
[2] John Adams autobiography, part 1, “John Adams,” through 1776, sheet 23 of 53 (electronic edition). Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive, Massachusetts Historical Society. www.masshist.org/digitaladams/.
[3] Phillip S. Foner, The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine, 2 vols. (The Citadel Press, 1969), 1:143-44.
[4] Ibid., 1:28.
[5] Ibid., 1:29.
[6] Edward S. Corwin, “The Progress of Constitutional Theory between the Declaration of Independence and the Meeting of the Philadelphia Convention,” in Gordon S. Wood, ed., The Confederation and the Constitution: The Critical Issues (Brown University Press, 1973), 33.
[7] Foner, The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine, 1:52.
[8] Ibid., 1:8.
[9] Ibid., 1:7.
[10] Ibid., 1:28-29.
[11] Jett B. Conner, John Adams vs Thomas Paine: Rival Plans for the Early Republic (Westholme, 2018), 29-47.
Wyoming Pinedale’s Cowboy Bar Was Built By An Outlaw And Won In A Card Game
Pinedale’s Cowboy Bar was built by an outlaw who rode with Butch Cassidy and was later owned by a Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fa... View MoreWyoming Pinedale’s Cowboy Bar Was Built By An Outlaw And Won In A Card Game
Pinedale’s Cowboy Bar was built by an outlaw who rode with Butch Cassidy and was later owned by a Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Famer who won the bar in a card game. The current owner, Lila Golden, has worked there since she was 6 years old.
Lila Golden said she was amazed at how many bullet holes were found in the walls of Pinedale’s Cowboy Bar when they stripped the siding off and replaced it in 2011.
The Cowboy Bar’s tough reputation was part of the deal when Golden’s father, C.W. Davis, bought it in 1969. Located on the corner of Maybell and Pine Street, it was known as a place where someone looking for trouble rarely left disappointed.
It was built in 1931 by an outlaw who rode with Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall Gang and later was owned by a member of the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame who, according to local legend, won the bar in a card game.
Some of its former patrons in the 1970s were so well-known by local law enforcement that deputies from neighboring counties were often alerted on the nights when this crew went out drinking.
“I’m not naming names, but there were some wild, tough characters here back in the day,” Golden said. “When they got into trouble in Jackson, they would call the Sublette County Sheriff to come and help, and when they got in trouble here, they would call the Teton County sheriff.”
When Davis bought the bar, city officials told him they would provide a liquor license, but they wouldn’t renew it if he didn’t clean the place up.
“My dad taught me to control the crowd by paying attention to what’s going on at all times,” she said. “And what’s playing on the juke box has a lot to do with people’s moods.”
The Rudolph Tipsy Punch
Now the Cowboy Bar’s reputation makes for good storytelling, and this time of year, Golden spends her time working behind the bar, making holiday cocktails. Golden has worked here since she was 6 years old and has owned the place for the last 20 years.
As she pours and stirs, she tells a story about the last shooting that happened here in 1977. A man was shot in the buttocks on the boardwalk out front by a jealous husband. It wasn’t fatal, but the exit wound nearly neutered him.
“I knew him,” she said. “His name was Chuck Wagg. What saved his manhood was the bikini underwear he was wearing.”
Served in a slender, curvy cocktail glass, the Rudolph Tipsy Punch seems a bit too pink and feminine to be sitting in front of a man on a bar in a place named for men who rope and ride for a living. But it’s early in the day, the place is empty, and it’s surprisingly delicious.
This drink is made with vodka, orange juice, cranberry juice, cherry juice, and ginger beer. The ginger gives it a spicy finish.
The Founder’s Story
Walt Punteney built the Cowboy Bar in 1931. He came to Wyoming from Kansas in his late teens and broke horses for a living. He appeared in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and rode with Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch.
According to Sublette County historians Clint Gilchrist and Dawn Ballou, Punteney and two others were arrested in connection with the Butte County bank robbery in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, in 1897.
The charges against all three men were eventually dropped, and historians have speculated that Cassidy paid “high-priced lawyers” to represent them. One of them is believed to have been Harry Longabaugh, aka The Sundance Kid.
Back To Drinkin’
The Mistletoe Margarita provides a seasonal twist on this most well-known Mexican cocktail. It’s made with raspberry-infused vodka, tequila, triple sec, cranberry, and lime juice and garnished with a slice of lime. It comes with a generous amount of salt on the rim, which gives it a winter motif.
This drink is an eye-pleasing and more gender-neutral purple color, thanks to the cranberry. It could be considered gentlemanly in some locales, but order it in this bar, and your man card may be called into question.
Giving Liberals The Finger
Friendly service is a requirement at the Cowboy Bar, and that comes directly from the boss. But there’s no attempt to disguise the management’s political leanings.
Golden teaches her employees that a bartender’s job is to listen to what customers have to say and not to expect to be tipped. Gratuities must be earned with good service.
“Customers don’t come in here to hear about our problems,” she said. “Our job is to listen.”
A sign hanging next to the front door states that all liberals must be accompanied by an adult. Another, more local political message targets the residents of a neighboring county with, “Don’t Jackson Hole Our Town.”
Putting The Cowboy In The Cowboy Bar
Golden’s father came to Pinedale in 1962 from Las Vegas, Nevada. He was a card player who participated in high-stakes poker games that sometimes went on for days, she said.
“He was a gambler, and he ran a lot of bars in his life,” Golden said. “I could retire on some of the hands he’s won and lost.”
Davis also had an eye for art and a bunch of friends who are cattle ranchers. He had several shadow boxes made out of barn wood with glass fronts and purple velvet backing. The boxes contain numerous tools of the ranching trade, like branding irons, tack, boots, hats, shovels, gold pans, knives, pistols, and traps.
Inside one of the display cases is a set of handmade spurs given to Davis by a friend named Rex Miller. Golden said they must be valuable based on how many people have offered to buy them over the years.
Inside a second case is a round steel object with 2-inch-long spikes protruding from its center. Golden said it’s called a “weaner,” and it was used to wean calves from their mothers. The device was placed around a calf’s nose and when it tried to nurse, the spikes would poke the cow’s udder and she would kick the calf off.
There’s not kicking off those who want a drink and conversation at Pinedale’s Cowboy Bar, where cowboy is more than a name, it’s a lifestyle.
January 6, 2026
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June 14, 1777: During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend.
With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union. In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states.
On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. As instructed by Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance.
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