Thomas Paine : Crisis Number 1

One of our greatest leaders, Abraham Lincoln, once argued, “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves” (Letter to H.L. Pierce, April 6, 1859). As Lincoln was fighting for freedom for all, he believed that it was morally wrong for one human to own another. He also thought that it was wrong to take away a chance of freedom from others. This relates to Thomas Paine's beliefs: He believed that if someone supports freedom, then they must to join the fight, and if they don’t then their children will have to suffer the consequences. On November 20, 1776, the American forces retreated from Fort Lee because the colonist were struggling to fight against the British. After the American forces retreated, Paine, a political activist and governor of Virginia, wrote a series of sixteen pamphlets called The American Crisis to lift the colonist's sagging spirits due to the devastating loss. In The Crisis No. 1, Paine implements language, a hopeful tone, and diction, to convey his purpose of persuading the men in the colonies to enlist in the war in an effort to retaliate against Great Britain, and assist the army to victory so the future generations don’t have to suffer.

Thomas Paine arrived in America for the first time in 1774. He was impressed by the colonies and soon became an advocate for their rights in the slowly increasing tensions with Britain. Paine’s belief in the rights of independence not just for white Americans, but for all men, was made clear

As the year 1776 began in the American colonies, tension with King George III’s England was at perhaps an all-time high.  Americans were frustrated with the actions of their rulers overseas.  Taxes and trade restrictions had been placed on them, and British and mercenary soldiers occupied their towns and cities.  There had even been fighting at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.  As America grew, England’s hold on it tightened, and a few voices began speaking of independence.  The loudest and most convincing of these belonged to Thomas Paine, born in England and living in Philadelphia.  His pamphlet, Common Sense, expressed the argument for American independence in a way no one had before and had a great influence on the Declaration of

In his essay, “The Crisis, No. 1,” Thomas Paine contends that the Colonists should continue fighting for their credences and strive for their Independence in pursuing freedom as an Independent country from Britain. Although, Paine provides bountiful techniques, it is without a doubt that his use of examples and religion are foremost in persuading the Colonist to fight.

Today we look back at the American Revolution and picture a united people fighting for inalienable rights, but to grasp the impact that Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” had upon his contemporaries we must understand the situation in the American colonies in 1776. When Paine wrote his pamphlet, the colonist and The Parliament in London, were almost 10 years into a debate over the rights of limited self-government by the colonies. In the months preceding the publication of Paine’s pamphlet the situation had steadily worsened until the April 19th, 1775 armed confrontation between Massachusetts colonists and British Army soldiers. By the end of that day, blood had been shed by both sides, and armed colonists placed the British garrison in Boston under siege. Despite this violence, most colonists viewed the events as a part of a struggle between Englishmen that would be resolved with the continued allegiance of the colonies to the Crown, but with more favorable treatment from London. It was with this popular mindset throughout the colonies, that Paine would deliver his “Common Sense” pamphlet arguing for complete independence from England. Paine understood that to make his argument resonate he needed to appeal to the public in a manner that had yet to be done.

Thomas Paine argued for the need for the independence of the American colonies from Great Britain. In the beginning, he wrote about general theories of government, focusing then on the specific situation in the colonies

Thomas Paine was an English-born political philosopher and writer. The Crisis, published in December 1776, is one of his writings. Paine wrote this document for the American people to persuade them to believe that freedom is worth fighting for. Even though the overall passage has a straightforward message, the reader can also understand that not everyone was able to keep fighting.

Thomas Paine was responsible for some of the most influential works of the revolution. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was a very crucial part to America and its movement of independence from Britain. Paine was effective with his writings by being very plain. He wanted both farmers and officials to understand what he was talking about and be able to comprehend his ideas. Paine wanted to put his ideas out to the people of the American colonies so that they could understand it just by reading and not have to analyze and decipher what he was really trying to get across. He wanted to let the colonist know that there was no more room for talking about a split from English rule but it was time for the colonies to unite and take up arms against their British oppressors.

In a time of uncertainty and alliances Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense provided the American people an easy way to understand the breakdown of who they were going to go to war against and why they should. Paine offered opinions with intellectual backing, opinions that were soon backed or opposed by other colonists and debated from taverns to law offices all over the colonies. In this paper, I will be discussing Paine’s intended audience, his perspective, the major problems he sees between England and the American colonies, and why his writing was so persuasive to support the revolution and weaknesses in his argument.

In the cold winter months of 1776, a group of colonial soldiers experience the perils of the Revolutionary War. They had lost New York City to British troops in August, and 11,000 American volunteers had given up the fight to return home to their families between September and December. Morale is low, and the service contracts of George Washington’s troops are about to expire on December 31 (history.com, par. 1). Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, The American Crisis, puts some fuel back in the fight. Paine’s use of rhetorical devices helps him achieve his purpose of encouraging laymen to join the fight and soldiers to continue the fight against Great Britain.

Thomas Paine in the essay, ”The Crisis, Number 1” asserts that the colonists need to keep fighting the British. Pain supports his assertion by using duty/obligation, figurative language, and parallel structure. The author’s purpose is to persuade the colonists to not give up. The author writes in a motivational tone for the colonists.

As an anonymous author Common Sense, Thomas Paine wrote the first pamphlet in the colonies to urge immediate independence from Britain. After writing Common Sense, he then wrote the first of sixteen pamphlets titled The Crisis. “The first Crisis paper (‘These are the times that try men’s souls’) was read to Washington’s troops at Trenton and did much to shore up the spirits of the Revolutionary soldiers” (Paine 324). Paine motivated the troops to keep their eyes on what really mattered throughout the war. The purpose of his writings are incredible and he definitely left an impact on a numerous amount of people.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Where liberty dwells, there is my country”. What did he mean by this statement? It’s a way of saying that where he lives, America, there is liberty. To claim the location of liberty to be one’s country, is to say that the location of one’s loyalty is dependent on the location of liberty. The location of liberty was crucial to Franklin, to colonists. In the Colonial Period, colonists arrived from Europe in search for religious freedom, land, and the chance for wealth. But even so, Europe governed newcomers; this resulted in anger and rebellion. A period in early American history that occurred in the creation of a new, independent nation. This then extended to another important time in history, a time in which the first pamphlet to advocate American independence was published and seen. Thomas Paine helped shape the ideas of the Age of Revolution. He outlined ideas of the superiority of the monarchial system, the equality of right’s among citizens, and of the significance of the American Revolution. He was a man that fought for freedom, fought for independence. Paine transformed the struggle over the rights of English people into a contest with meaning for people everywhere (History). And as periods go by, people similar to their pride and drive for free will live today. People tend to overlook the work that soldiers put in everyday to maintain the freedom Americans have today. And to an extent it’s very human, but as a country it’s important to

Thomas Paine, an American Colonial writer during the American Revolution, wrote a persuasive essay “The Crisis, Number 1”(17760 in which he implores that the colonists “lay [their] shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake.” in regards to the freedom taken away by British control. He makes clear the importance of breaking away from Britain by explaining that revolting against tyranny was supported by God and it was a natural duty of man to respond against “mean principles that are held by the Tories”. Paine used an anecdote about a father selfishly deciding against fighting instead of attaining freedom for his child in order to “awaken every man to duty” or convince the reader that a moral, respectable citizen would agree with him. The target audience is easily spotted in this essay because Colonial emotions are shown paramount to British ones, the essay was designed to impress upon colonists the importance of fighting for their own Freedom through the use of bandwagon tactics and pathos filled anecdotes and his opinionated tone.

One of the most fundamental people in the push for American Independence, Thomas Paine offers much advice in both Common Sense, and The Crisis. Paine offers very strong arguments in Common Sense, which are supported by his own reason, his sensibility, his common sense and by his ability to draw inference from what has already happened. Paine uses every element in his ability to help give more depth to his arguments and plans. However, of all the cases Thomas Paine makes in Common Sense, the ultimate goal of Paine is to incite the American Public to make a stand against British tyranny, and break from Britain altogether, and become independent.