7/27/2019 Crisis No. 1 Worksheet

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Key Words

Exploit-to use selfishly for one's own endsPetrified-to benumb or paralyze with astonishment, horror, or other strong emotionRavage-devastating or destructive actionRelinquish-to give up, to let go. to releaseResolution-a decision or determination; a resolve

Thomas Paine (January 29, 1737-February 9, 1737) June 8, 1809)- was an English-American political activist, author, political

theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired

the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment era rhetoric of transnational human

rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination."

Crisis, No.1

Along with the patriotic nature of The American Crisis, it displayed Paine's strong Deist beliefs, inciting the laity with suggestions

that the British are trying to assume powers that only God should have. Paine sees the British political and military maneuvers inAmerica as "impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God." Paine states that he believes God supports the American

cause, "that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupported to perish, who have so

earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent".

Paine takes great lengths to state that Americans do not want force, but "a proper application of that force" - implying throughout

that an extended war can only lead to defeat unless a stable army was composed not of militia but of trained professionals. But

Paine maintains a positive view overall, hoping that this American crisis can be quickly resolved; "For though the flame of liberty

may sometimes cease to shine, the embers can never expire."

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Share Your Idea

Form a small group and choose one of the topics below and explain.

A. "THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from theservice of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

B. " Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offesive war, for I think it murder;but if a thief breaks into my house burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to"bind me in all cases whatsover," to his absolute will, am I to suffer it?"

C. "...if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression isimpious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to God..."

D. "...God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsuppertedly to perish, who have so earnestlyand so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent."

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decisionhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/resolvehttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/resolvehttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/decision