Thomas Paine: by Craig Nelson.

From a mechanic in London - lower class and not well to do either - to the founder of both the French Republic and US, a founding father of the latter, a thinker, someone who put forth the case for rights of every citizen and thoughts about inherent power in every one irrespective of status and other criteria then (as, indeed, even now, albeit subconsciously) prevalent, someone less well known than other more famous contemporary figures.

He was the origin of the phrase United States of America, without realising how this would confuse a nation and more - today people of US call themselves American without realising America is a huge continent from pole to pole and as such everyone of the continent has every right to call themselves American as well, while the confederate southern states are sometimes referred to mistakenly as south America by some young people in US without reflecting that South America is the southern half of the continent from Panama to Antarctica roughly speaking. Canadians and Mexicans rightfully call themselves North Americans including US but people of US are totally unaware of the very phrase North America when referring to people and do not subconsciously include Mexico if and when they come across it. Indeed the phrases prevalent in US are America (as in US), Canada, and Latin America, reflecting a caste system based on regions of Europe which dominated the migration to parts of American continent.

One would think someone would have realised the confusion, especially someone of the calibre of Paine, such use of nomenclature duplicated would cause - but we are speaking of a people who knew all along that they were migrating west, India was to the east, and nevertheless called the natives of the western continent Indian and still do, forever disfranchising them from being seen as the native and therefore rightful residents of the continent from pole to pole.

This latter confusion also serves to diminish the word Indian from association with civilisation of India and forever blemishes it with a subtext of connotations including uncivilised, wild, primitive, illiterate, savage, etcetera. That natives of the western continent do not deserve such epithets is added to the whole irony, what with the immense achievements of astronomy, architecture and so forth in southern parts and the ecological conserving superior ethos of the whole. Moreover now it is conjectured that they are related to northeast Asian people, who could walk over the Siberia to Alaska connection, as indeed they could use a raft to cross the Pacific.

Not all of this confusion is laid at door of Paine, of course, but if he thought of any of it or suggested other names it is not known. Meanwhile did the land have other names, the regions, the continent, has not been enquired into, since there has been no protest at foreign names being imposed on natives by the natives. No significant protest that could get beneath the thick hide of the non natives that is.

The book meanwhile is worth reading for all the understanding and information it provides about Thomas Paine.