Thomas Paine

"The Crisis, No. 1" is a very important piece of writing in the Revolutionary Period in America. Thomas Paine, who wrote "The Crisis, No. 1" also wrote the pamphlet that started the rebellion that led to the Revolutionary War, "Common Sense" (Divine). After the Revolutionary War had started Paine wrote the first "Crisis" (Paine 132). The pamphlet was very influential at that time. General George Washington"ordered that this first pamphlet be read out loud at every military campground" (Paine 132). Paine wrote very persuasively toward his idea of independence against England. If his writings were not persuasive propaganda, then we would not be reading the pamphlets today. Similar to Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine expressed his idea eloquently through his writing with enough good points to hide the name calling propaganda and faulty logic (Paine 134-136).

Thomas Paine's "The Crisis, No. 1", is an example of a Rationalist piece of writing because of two main things: his skepticism of European ideas and the "absolute right of monarchs to rule their countries" (Boucquey). Paine is skeptical about England having the right to impose taxes on its colony (Paine 134). The majority of European countries tax their all territories whether they are colonies or not (Divine). But what makes America's case different is the fact that England viewed the American colonies with a state of salutary neglect, or completely ignored them. It was not until England saw how create a crop that tobacco was and then became in a huge amount of debt, that they threw the salutary neglect out the window and became involved in the colonists' lives. The loss of independence was a shock for the colonists who were used to being on their own (Divine). That is why the taxation was such a big deal to the colonists; they never had outside forces impacting their lives. I would not like it if England suddenly told me that they spent a ton of money losing a war against France and need my help (even if I had to pay part of the bill already as the Seven Year's War was fought on American soil and now my colony is in debt) to pay it because it is my "civil duty" to help the mother country (Divine). Thomas Paine agreed with my opinion and made it clear that the colonists needed to "lay their shoulders to the wheel... when so great an object is at stake" (Paine 136).

Paine completely believes that England does not have the right to have an "absolute rule" over the colonies, as in the phrase"tyranny, is like Hell" referring to the English rule in America (Paine 134). An ocean separates America from Britain and that wide gap is the difference of independence and British rule. If the colonies would have been in, say Spain, then England would have direct access and dictate the colonists' lives. But because of the Atlantic Ocean, the colonists had to have self- reliance as they could not wait months for a decision to get to England, be made, then sailed back. The whole "Crisis, No. 1" is about persuading the colonists to join the fight because the English are taking over the colonies, and it is not acceptable. Washington had it read to his troops because Paine's points were so concise and influential that even a Tory would have wanted to join the fight (Paine 132).


Boucquey, Thierry, gen. ed. "Rationalism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 14th through 18th Centuries. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 21. Sept. 2011.

Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis, No. 1." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 132-136. Print.