The Crisis by Thomas Paine

The Crisis by Thomas Paine

In the winter of 1776, the American War of Independence, which had been declared months before, was in trouble. British troops had quickly advanced through New York to crush the rebellion, and the Continental army was in retreat and on the verge of disintegration. At the end of that year, on the 23rd of December, Thomas Paine, who had previously inspired the revolutionary cause with his stirring pamphlet Common Sense, published the first of a new series of essays aptly titled The Crisis. Paine had a gift for memorable phrasing and the first words of The Crisis soon became famous. General Washington found the writing so uplifting that later, during the bleak winter of 1777 at Valley Forge, he ordered Paine's essay to be read by all the troops. Paine continued his writing through the duration of the war with eloquent appeals for justice addressed to British leaders and citizens, and uplifting words to bolster the patriots in their fight for independence. A document that provides many insights into the hardships and precarious uncertainties that threatened the birth of our nation, The Crisis belongs on every American's bookshelf.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809), a pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical, liberal, intellectual, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was a pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical, liberal, intellectual, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He went to America on Benjamin Franklin's recommendation, just in time to advocate the American Revolution with his strong and widely read tract, Common Sense. Later in life, he had a significant impact on the French Revolution. He wrote Rights of Man as a primer on Enlightenment ideals. In 1792, despite his incapacity to communicate in French, he was elected to the French National Assembly.

He was seen as a Girondist ally, but the Montagnards, particularly Robespierre, were growing dissatisfied with him. In December 1793, he was captured and imprisoned in Paris; he was released in 1794. His work The Age of Reason, which championed deism and criticized Christian ideas, made him famous. While in France, he also published Agrarian Justice, a pamphlet that analyzed the origins of property and proposed a proposal similar to a guaranteed minimum income.

He stayed in France until 1802, when he accepted an offer from Thomas Jefferson, the newly elected president of the United States.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781591026310
ISBN 10	1591026318
Title	The Crisis
Author	Thomas Paine
Series	Great Minds Ser
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Prometheus Books
Year published	2008-07-01
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.