These are the times that try men’s souls. . . . ” If one was a supporter of the Patriot cause, these words were literally true that early winter of 1776. The light of liberty was flickering, threatening to go out, leaving only a dark void where bright hopes had once shined. Earlier, in July, buoyed on a wave of optimism as the British evacuated Boston, the colonies had declared their independence from England, stating that “they were, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.” Since then the cause of freedom had steadily declined as military disaster after disaster had plagued the army led by George Washington in battles around New York City. Now, that important seaport was lost, and the once-proud Patriot army of 17,000 had been reduced to a third of that number. The enlistments of the remaining members were to expire on the last day of the year, and no one stood ready to take their places.
Then, like a thunderclap, there appeared a pamphlet called The Crisis, which quickly was reprinted throughout the colonies. This publication, the first in a series eventually numbering thirteen, began with the stirring words: “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 it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Like a hot iron these words seared their way into the conscience of an infant nation.
The author of these words, Thomas Paine, had been in the colonies only since November 30, 1774, but he had arrived with a radical zeal for independence already burning in his heart. That fire would help ignite a continent-wide conflagration.
Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England, in 1737, the son of a Quaker corset maker. After only a basic education, Paine married in 1759, only to be left a widower at the birth of a premature child. A second marriage a few years later failed badly, and Paine was anxious to distance himself from his alienated wife. Paine was also trying to get away from a job he hated. Ironically, Paine was a tax collector for the Crown. In this position Paine said he saw “into the numerous and various distresses of ordinary people.” These “distresses” included falling wages, rising prices, and occasional food riots. Not content to merely observe, Paine became active in church activities that promoted relief for the needy, but he soon realized the problem was larger than religious resources could solve. At some point in this search for a better life, Thomas Paine met Benjamin Franklin, because in 1774 Franklin gave Paine letters of introduction to political leaders in Pennsylvania. Paine soon came to America. Within a few months he had become editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine, acquiring a forum in which to sound his views.
The outbreak of the Revolutionary War gave Paine the opportunity he wanted. His political views had long favored limiting Royal power, and independence for the colonies was the perfect cause to achieve that end. Not all his new countrymen saw the issue in those terms, however. While many were upset with the attempts of the British Parliament and the appointed Royal governors to run colonial affairs, most saw themselves as loyal to King George III, the leader of the most free and liberal government on earth. This vast majority of the population held to this idea even after fighting broke out.
EXPELLED FROM THE CAPITOL in Williamsburg by the Royal governor, the Virginia House of Burgesses met for a time in Raleigh Tavern.
Paine took on the task of persuading his new countrymen to seek more freedom from the Crown in his widely published pamphlet, Common Sense. In trenchant arguments Paine gave a scathing indictment of rule by kings and celebrated the blessings to be found when people ruled. In one forceful passage he wrote: “Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.” Paine went on to advocate a democratic system of government with frequent elections and a written constitution. In a single stroke Paine made the idea of independence the central focus of the political debate. It was not government corruption that plagued America, he wrote, nor was it a coalition of evil department heads; America’s problem was the monarchical system of government. As Paine’s message spread, “common sense passed through the continent like an electric spark,” according to one contemporary. Perhaps as many as 500,000 copies of Common Sense were distributed.
In the dark days of 1776, Paine would step into the breach a second time. Unlike most political writers who addressed themselves to the upper classes, assuming only they would be interested in or capable of understanding their arguments, Paine wrote to the common people: the soldiers whose enlistments were almost up, the militiamen who were reluctant to take the field, the wives and mothers hesitant to let their husbands and sons leave home. The force of Paine’s arguments was reinforced by his actions. He did not write The Crisis while seated comfortably at a desk in a warm office. Shortly after independence was declared in July, he had joined a militia company. During the retreat from New York City, Paine had served as an aide to Gen. Nathanael Greene and was currently a part of Washington’s army.
The public response to Paine’s second pamphlet was again large and positive. Washington had The Crisis read to every company in his army, while state representatives in the Continental Congress had it republished and sent back to their home states. The Crisis appealed to the sense of duty that had been deeply instilled into many American minds by the religious heritage of Calvinism, the dominant theological view of the colonial period. It stuck at their sense of shame by implying that they were giving up the task because it was difficult, though the need to continue the work was obvious. It might be argued that the pamphlet, which appeared on December 23, 1776, did not win the upcoming battles of Washington’s Winter Campaign, but it was a great help. Enough men responded to Paine’s call to allow Washington to go on the offensive at the Trenton and Princeton battles, keeping the American Revolution alive and leading, at long last, to victory.
The war was fought with muskets, but without the will to take up arms, there would have been no American victory. During some of the most depressing days of the war, Thomas Paine supplied that will. If not mightier than the sword, the pen was an effective, and necessary, partner.