TOW #11 - The American Crisis (Thomas Paine)

Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, a pro-revolution pamphlet from the 1700s, was a passionate Patriot. He was heavily in favor of separating from the oppressive British, and because of this, he wrote “The Crisis” – a call to action aimed at the American people. He specifically targets his fellow Patriots, rather than the Tories, who he believed to be traitors. In his piece, Paine makes a comparison to slavery and writes with a motivational tone to rally the American people to fight back against the British.

In the very beginning of his piece, Paine compares the treatment of the Americans to slavery to intensify and prioritize the issue at hand. He claims that Britain “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.” As enslavers themselves, the American people have a good understanding of what enslavement entails. Therefore, when Paine associates Britain’s treatment with slavery, he really tries to strike a nerve. His comparison almost exaggerates what is going on. The British are not actually treating the Americans like slaves – they are just taxing them. However, it is much more infuriating to the people that they are being enslaved rather than paying money. This makes the conflict with Britain a priority; the people cannot sit back and suffer the abuse.

In addition to this comparison, Thomas Paine uses a motivating tone in an attempt to rally the American people to fight back against the British. First, he insults the Tories, the group of people who supported Britain during the conflict, saying that “Every Tory is a coward; for 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.” Through this statement, Paine essentially divides America into two groups: the ones who can fight and the ones who can’t (in his opinion, the Tories). By calling them “cowardly,” he creates a greater need for the Whigs (the non-Tories) to get out and fight, because if they don’t, nobody will. Paine goes on to claim that “there are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one […] It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard equally against both.” He considers the British “cunning” and “murderous” – two adjectives with extremely negative connotation. By using these terms to describe the “enemy,” Paine once again tries to increase the American desire to fight. He claims that the conflict can only be solved through violence, and through doing so, attempts to motivate the people to fight.

Through his comparison to slavery and his motivational tone, Thomas Paine eventually rallied the people fight back against the British. Thus, he was ultimately successful in making his argument.