The American Crisis (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

By Thomas Paine and Andrew S. Trees

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands for it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” — The American Crisis December 23, 1776

The pen of Thomas Paine was one of the most powerful weapons Americans possessed in their struggle for independence. The American Crisis played a key role in per­suading ordinary people to embrace the American Revolution and to remain true to that cause. The pamphlets comprising this volume bluntly denounced Great Britain’s constitution, its monarchy, and its empire and reminded citizens why they were undertaking such an arduous struggle. Our political rhetoric and indeed our political culture still show the imprint of Paine’s galvanizing words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411434974

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine (1736-1809) was an English born American activist, philosopher, and author. Before moving to America, Paine worked as a stay maker, but would often get fired for his questionable business practices. Out of a job, separated from his wife, and falling into debt, Paine decided to move to America for a fresh start. There, he not only made a fresh start for himself, but helped pave the way for others, too. Paine was credited to be a major inspiration for the American Revolution. His series of pamphlets affected American politics by voicing concerns that were not yet intellectually considered by early American society.

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THE AMERICAN CRISIS

THOMAS PAINE

INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW S. TREES

Introduction and Suggested Reading

© 2010 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

This 2011 edition published by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-4114-3497-4

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

THE CRISIS NUMBER I

THE CRISIS NUMBER II

TO LORD HOWE

THE CRISIS NUMBER III

THE CRISIS NUMBER IV

THE CRISIS NUMBER V

TO GENERAL SIR WILLIAM HOWE

THE CRISIS NUMBER VI

TO THE EARL OF CARLISLE, GENERAL CLINTON, AND WILLIAM EDEN, ESQ., BRITISH COMMISSIONERS, AT NEW YORK

THE CRISIS NUMBER VII

TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND

THE CRISIS NUMBER VIII

ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND

THE CRISIS NUMBER IX

THE CRISIS NUMBER X (S)

THE CRISIS EXTRAORDINARY ON THE SUBJECT OF TAXATION

THE CRISIS NUMBER XI

ON THE KING OF ENGLAND'S SPEECH

THE CRISIS NUMBER XII

ON THE PRESENT STATE OF NEWS

THE CRISIS NUMBER XIII (S)

TO SIR GUY CARLETON

THE CRISIS NUMBER XIV

TO THE EARL OF SHELBURNE

THE CRISIS NUMBER XV

THOUGHTS ON THE PEACE AND ADVANTAGES THEREOF

THE CRISIS NUMBER XVI (S)

TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA

ENDNOTES

SUGGESTED READING

(S) - REFER TO EDITOR'S NOTE

INTRODUCTION

THE PEN OF THOMAS PAINE WAS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPONS Americans possessed in their struggle for independence. While Common Sense is more famous, his series of pamphlets known as The American Crisis played a key role in persuading ordinary people to embrace the American Revolution and to remain true to that cause even after early military failures sapped the morale of the Continental Army and the general population. The pamphlets were published throughout the war, and their blunt and forceful denunciations of Great Britain's constitution, its monarchy, and its empire reminded citizens why they were undertaking such an arduous struggle. Although not a native-born American, Paine espoused the revolutionary cause more effectively than anyone else. Our political rhetoric and indeed our political culture still show the imprint of Paine's galvanizing words.

Given his checkered early career, Paine's rise to importance and the central role he played in both the American and French Revolutions was truly remarkable. Born in Thetford, England, in 1737, his education was modest. He drifted among a number of careers, including corset maker, schoolmaster, and customs inspector, and he failed in all of them, sometimes more than once. He immigrated to Philadelphia in November 1774 and planned to work as a schoolmaster. However, he was converted to the cause of independence after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. He wrote the spectacularly successful Common Sense in 1776 and penned The American Crisis essays from 1776 to 1783. Largely due to his writings, Paine was appointed as secretary of the Congressional Committee of Foreign Affairs in 1777, although he lost the position two years later after he alluded in writing to confidential treaty negotiations with France.

After the war, Paine engaged in a number of scientific experiments and returned to Europe in 1787 to promote a method of constructing an iron bridge that he had invented. His role as a revolutionary pamphleteer still awaited its second act. In 1791, he published the first part of The Rights of Man as a defense of the French Revolution and in response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. (The second part was published the following year). It proved as popular as Common Sense. The pamphlet championed the dignity of the common man against the idea that ordinary people were not fit for politics, a conception of the body politic that he had also promoted during the American Revolution. After writing the pamphlet, Paine left England, where he was subsequently declared a traitor, and went to France, where he was granted citizenship and later elected to the National Convention. He was associated with the moderates at the Convention, and when the radicals seized power, the Committee of General Safety arrested him. He spent almost a year in prison, where he worked on The Age of Reason (part 1 was published in 1794; part 2 in 1796). In it, he attacked institutionalized religion and challenged the legitimacy of the Bible. In their stead, Paine promoted deism, the belief that God existed but did not interfere directly in the universe. As with his other writings, Paine's pamphlet took an elite idea and helped spread it among the masses.

Paine remained in France through the early years of Napoleon's rise and returned to the United States in 1802 at President Thomas Jefferson's invitation. He died in New York City on June 8, 1809. His pamphlet The Age of Reason as well as an open letter he wrote that was critical of George Washington led many to turn against him. According to reports, only a few attended his funeral. One contemporary published a short description of his burial, including the claim that Paine had done more harm than good. The account was reprinted in numerous newspapers throughout the country, an ungrateful obituary for the most powerful pen raised in support of the Revolution.

Regardless of Paine's somewhat ignominious end, the importance of his political writings—particularly Common Sense, which was first published in January 1776 and reprinted dozens of times—cannot be overstated. At a time when even the largest colonial newspapers had circulations under two thousand, historians estimate that Common Sense sold one hundred twenty thousand copies in its first three months alone (Paine took no payment for his work, a practice that he continued throughout his career). Based on population size, a comparable figure today would be ten million. That number fails to capture the full extent of its readership because the pamphlet was frequently read aloud so that even many illiterate people heard its arguments for independence. It also was translated and published abroad. Although Common Sense did not play a large role in convincing the Continental Congress to declare independence, it did more than any other piece of writing to convince the general population to stop thinking of themselves as Englishmen and to embrace the cause of American independence. Benjamin Rush echoed the thoughts of virtually every founding father when he stated that its effect has rarely been produced by types and paper in any age or country.¹

If Common Sense helped rally the country to the cause of independence, Paine's series of pamphlets collectively entitled The American Crisis helped keep his countrymen from losing faith in the Revolution. He retreated with the beleaguered troops of the Continental Army as they crossed New Jersey after a number of dispiriting defeats, and he witnessed firsthand the full measure of their despair. While they camped in Trenton, he returned to Philadelphia and composed an essay entitled The Crisis in what he called a passion of patriotism. Published in the Pennsylvania Journal on December 19, 1776, and four days later as a pamphlet, it was soon reprinted throughout the country. The first lines are among the most famous in American political history: These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Even as his words took the full measure of the new nation's despair, they were a stirring call to resistance. Washington found the pamphlet so inspiring that he ordered it to be read aloud to his troops on Christmas Eve shortly before they crossed the Delaware River and won a convincing victory at the Battle of Trenton, which helped restore confidence in the American cause. Between 1776 and 1783, Paine wrote sixteen essays for the series, thirteen numbered pamphlets and three additional pamphlets. Although they occasionally missed their mark, in general they proved to be masterworks of political propaganda.

The essays shared many commonalities with Common Sense, and although not as widely circulated as Common Sense, they still achieved a remarkably broad distribution. The pamphlet as a tool of political persuasion was nothing new, but Paine's reshaping of the genre in Common Sense and The American Crisis helped remake the pamphlet from a learned appeal to elite readers into an instrument of mass persuasion. As in Common Sense, he wrote in a way that aroused the passions of his audience and also that appealed to their reason, taking up ideas that occupied his writing throughout his life. Alongside a fierce patriotism, he vented his fury against the corruption and cruelty of Great Britain and its monarch. In the first essay, he called the king a sottish, stupid, worthless, brutish man, and he wrote that Britain . . . is in my inmost belief the greatest and most ungrateful offender against GOD on the face of the whole earth. His second essay, first published on January 13, 1777, was addressed to Richard Viscount Howe, admiral and commander of the British forces, and made clear that his contempt extended to aristocrats and servants of the king. There must be something strangely degenerating in the love of monarchy, he wrote, that can so completely wear a man down to an ingrate, and make him proud to lick the dust that kings have trod upon. And he was scathing in his depiction of Tory supporters of Great Britain. He wrote:

What is a Tory? GOOD GOD! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward, for a servile, slavish, self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be brave.

In the essays, Paine also showed a remarkably shrewd grasp of the military situation. The Continental Army suffered many setbacks, and he presciently outlined the immense difficulty of utilizing an army to subdue a continent. A number of the essays addressed specific issues of the day. The third Crisis helped prod the Pennsylvania Assembly into passing a law requiring an oath of loyalty to the government. In The Crisis Extraordinary, he argued for the necessity of taxation. The twelfth Crisis attempted to silence talk that America should make peace with Britain without consulting France. In his final papers, he also took up the cause for a stronger central government.

Paine remained true throughout his life to certain political ideas: harsh criticism of the British monarchy and constitution in favor of republicanism, a basic optimism about the direction of history and the possibility of human perfectibility, and a commitment to political and social egalitarianism. As many commentators have pointed out, there was nothing original about his ideas, which leads to the question of why Paine's writings were so popular. In fact, his very lack of originality probably played some part in his success. He showed a knack for expressing in compelling terms what many were already thinking. While critics of Paine have criticized his unoriginality and occasionally flimsy arguments, none has dismissed his importance. One historian has ranked his achievements as the equal of Washington's on the battlefield and Benjamin Franklin's as a diplomat. John Adams was often a severe critic of Paine, but even he admitted—albeit caustically—Paine's centrality to this Revolutionary era: I know not whether any Man in the World had more influence on its inhabitants or affairs for the last thirty years than Tom Paine. There can be no severer Satyr on the Age. For such a mongrel between Pigg and Puppy, begotten by a wild Boar on a Bitch Wolf, never before in any Age of the World was suffered by the Poltroonery of mankind, to run through such a Career of Mischief. Call it then the Age of Paine.²

If Paine's ideas were unoriginal, his mode of expressing himself was not, and it is his literary and rhetorical style that holds the key not only to his success but also to his lasting influence. Compared to other pamphleteers of the time, there are several obvious differences. He used shorter words and shorter sentences than other writers. His essays also contained more energy and were more direct. Most importantly, he directly addressed the mass of the people instead of only an elite readership, and he wrote accordingly. He rarely used Latin phrases, and when he did, he translated them. He assumed no knowledge of any books but the Bible. And he avoided the kind of orotund rhetoric that eighteenth-century pamphleteers often favored, choosing instead to write with a forceful and simple style. It was a revolution not just in terms of style but also in terms of how he envisioned his readership, and both were closely linked with his underlying political message. His rejection of the British monarchy and a politics of deference in favor of republicanism was enacted in his language itself with its rejection of elite rhetorical devices in favor of a common style for the common man, the culmination of a rhetorical revolution several decades in the making. Paine's style and his conception of both his readership and the body politic swept all before them.

Historians are still struggling to understand how Paine's ideas were formed. He attended grammar school from the ages of eight to thirteen but had no formal schooling after that. Some have tried to trace his ideas back to other writers, such as John Locke, John Milton, or Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, but Paine himself claimed not to be much of a reader. Historian Eric Foner argues that Paine's republicanism grew out of his artisan background as well as the dissenting Protestant tradition, while others claim that his egalitarianism stemmed from his early experience with poverty and injustice. Other theories tout his religious background, his family experience, or the Whiggish orientation of his birthplace. Another likely source was conversation in the coffeehouses of Great Britain and America, where radicals often gathered to discuss the news of the day. Regardless of where his ideas came from, though, he expressed them with a power rarely seen before that time.

Despite limitations such as his lack of extensive reading and his arrival in America shortly before the Revolution began, Paine captured the revolutionary spirit of the age and expressed it on the page more powerfully than anyone else. His writings continue to cast a long shadow over American politics. While his ideas were cribbed from others, his style was distinctly his own, and his writings have continued to shape the country's political rhetoric and language today. As more than one commentator has noted, we are all Thomas Paine's children now.

Andrew S. Trees is the author of The Founding Fathers and the Politics of Character (Princeton University Press, 2003) and holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Virginia. He has written a number of articles and books on American history and other subjects.

EDITOR'S NOTE

During most of the 19th century, three of the pamphlets or newspaper notices that Thomas Paine published under the name of Common Sense were considered as supernumerary to the thirteen Paine later identified in his will. This collection follows the recent custom of ordering the entries in which they were originally published and numbering them sequentially. Each Crisis considered by Paine to be supernumerary is identified in the Table of Contents with a (S).

THE CRISIS NUMBER I

THESE ARE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S SOULS. THE SUMMER SOLDIER and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: 'tis dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but to bind us in all cases whatsoever, and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a dependant state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet; all that Howe has been doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys a year ago would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little resolution will soon recover.

I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.

'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them: Britain has trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth century the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.

As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances, which those who live at a distance, know but little or nothing of. Our situation there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a narrow neck of land between the North River and the Hackensack. Our force was inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so great as Howe could bring against us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the garrison, had we shut ourselves up and stood on the defence. Our ammunition, light artillery, and the best part of our stores, had been removed, on the apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys, in which case Fort Lee could be of no use to us; for it must occur to every thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these kind of field forts are only for temporary purposes, and last in use no longer than the enemy directs his force against the particular object, which such forts are raised to defend. Such was our situation and condition at Fort Lee on the morning of the 20th of November, when an officer arrived with information that the enemy with two hundred boats had landed about seven or eight miles above: Major General Green, who commanded the garrison, immediately ordered them under arms, and sent express to his excellency, General Washington, at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the ferry, six miles. Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and us, about six miles from us, and three miles from them. General Washington arrived in about three-quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush for; however, they did not choose to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and made their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there passed the river. We brought off as much baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost. The simple object was to bring off the garrison, and to march them on till they could be strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to make a stand. We staid four days at Newark, collected in our out-posts with some Jersey militia, and marched out twice to meet the enemy, on being informed that they were advancing, though our numbers were greatly inferior to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error in generalship in not throwing a body of forces off from Staten Island through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our stores at Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania: but if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise believe that their agents are under some providential control.

I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat to the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both officers and men, though greatly harrassed and fatigued, frequently without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their wishes centered in one, which was, that the country would turn out and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that King William never appeared to full advantage but in difficulties and in action; the same remark may be made on General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude; and I reckon it among those kind of public blessings, which we do not immediately see, that God hath blest him with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even flourish upon care.

I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on the state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following question: Why is it that the enemy have left the New England provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy:

Reviews for The American Crisis (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

[torrey23 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thomas Paine does an excellent job of laying out the rationale for the war, as well as laying out the absurdities of the British claims. He stated the odds of British victory was almost non-existent. However, I think that he overstated the Americans chances. He did make good points about the poor philosophical and political reasons for the British attempts at American subjugation. This book is much better written than Common Sense, but Paine does still rely on emotions to some extent.