Whigs

Whigs are identified in Thomas Paine’s political argument with the cause of American independence, but their significance lies less in party identity than in the constitutional choice facing the colonies. Paine urges them to help secure independence through a lawful, representative government before delay or disorder determines the outcome; his final appeal goes further, asking that the names Whig and Tory disappear into a common civic commitment.

Political Setting and the Turn to Independence

Paine places the Whigs within a conflict transformed by the move from argument to arms. Before hostilities began, both sides of the dispute still sought union with Great Britain, differing chiefly over whether force or friendship could achieve it. Once that approach had failed and reconciliation had lost its influence, he argues, earlier proposals belonged to a superseded political moment. The question was no longer how to restore the old relationship, but what sovereign arrangement could secure the continent’s future.

The case for separation rests, in Paine’s account, on the costs of colonial dependence. American trade could find markets in Europe without a privileged connection to Britain, while that connection exposed the colonies to European wars and made them instruments in British policy. A continent that remained subject to a distant power, Paine argues, could neither govern itself conveniently nor reliably protect its interests: petitions had to cross three or four thousand miles, and months could pass before an answer arrived and further months before it could be explained. He contrasts this delay with the political urgency of a population capable of acting for itself.

Independence also changes how the colonies can appear and act abroad. While they call themselves British subjects, foreign powers may regard them as rebels rather than as a people entitled to diplomatic dealings. Paine argues that a declaration would allow other powers to mediate a peace and would make it possible to address foreign courts with an account of colonial grievances, assurances of peaceful intentions, and an offer of trade. Until the colonies take their place among nations, he says, they cannot expect to be received or heard on equal terms.

A Continental Government, Not a Party Government

Paine’s institutional proposals supply the political purpose that party commitment must serve. He proposes annual assemblies with a president, more equal representation, and domestic responsibilities subject to the authority of a Continental Congress. In his broader design, the colonies would be divided into districts that sent delegates, and the presidency would rotate among the colonies through a system of selection by lot and election by the Congress. He also proposes that majorities require three fifths of Congress, so that lawmaking would demand more than a narrow margin of support.

The proposed Continental Conference would bring together representatives of Congress, colonial assemblies or conventions, and the people. Its task would be to frame a Continental Charter fixing representation, the timing of legislative sessions, and the division of jurisdiction between continental and provincial bodies. The charter would secure freedom and property and, above all, the free exercise of religion according to conscience. Paine’s design thus turns independence from a break with Britain into a constructive problem: how to establish authority that derives from the people, coordinates the colonies, and protects their rights.

He also warns that the institutions assembled in an emergency should not simply become permanent by habit. Congress had been an expedient response to immediate calamity, and Paine credits its conduct with helping preserve the continent from ruin. But he questions whether the same body should control both representation and election, and insists that planning for posterity cannot assume virtue is inherited. The Whigs’ cause, in this reasoning, is not vindicated merely by opposing royal power; it must be secured through representative arrangements that prevent public authority from becoming a separate interest.

Whigs, Tories, and the Risk of Delay

Paine’s appeal to the Whigs is sharpened by his warning that independence will come by one of three routes: through the lawful voice of the people in Congress, through military power, or through a mob. Only the first, he argues, gives the colonies the opportunity and encouragement to form an exceptionally good constitution. If the present opening is neglected and independence later arrives by another means, he holds the opponents of the measure responsible for the consequences. The choice of method matters as much as the eventual separation: a declaration made through legitimate political authority can turn upheaval into institution-building.

He therefore argues that even the Tories should want independence. Committees had initially protected them from popular anger, and a wise, established government, Paine contends, would be the surest means of protecting them securely in the future. If they lacked the virtue to become Whigs, they should at least have the prudence to wish for independence. This is not an invitation to treat opponents as outside the political community; it is an argument that a stable constitutional order serves them too.

Delay threatens both unity and the prospect of an orderly settlement. Paine says the colonies should stop debating whether independence is necessary and instead concentrate on achieving it on a firm, secure, and honorable basis. Every day, in his account, confirms its necessity. Independence is the bond that can hold the continent together, close it to an enemy’s schemes, and place it in a position to negotiate with Britain as states rather than as subjects. Continued hesitation, meanwhile, encourages hopes of conquest and prolongs the war.

From Party Names to Citizenship

Paine’s conclusion transforms the language of party into a demand for political reconciliation among the colonists. He urges neighbors to extend a friendly hand and draw a line that would bury earlier disagreements as an act of oblivion. Whig and Tory, he says, should cease to be the names heard among them; the desired identity is instead that of a good citizen, an open and resolute friend, and a virtuous supporter of human rights and the free and independent states of America.

This ending defines the Whigs’ importance without making permanent party division the goal. Paine treats their support for independence as a necessary political force at a decisive moment, but the durable achievement must be a common civic order. The measure of success is not that one faction triumphs over another: it is that the colonies establish independence through lawful collective action, create institutions capable of protecting their inhabitants, and replace inherited political labels with allegiance to public rights.