The American Crisis aka "The Crisis" (audio)

librivox ^ | 2014-06-10 | Thomas Paine

[ProgressingAmerica]

A 13 pamphlet series by 18th century Enlightenment philosopher/author Thomas Paine, published between 1776 to 1783 during and immediately following the American Revolution, gathered into one volume in 1882 by Moncure D. Conway. Each essay, plus 2 inserts, bolstered the morale of the American colonists to fight hard for their independence, appealed to the English to support the colonist's cause, clarified the issues at stake, and denounced any type of negotiated peace. Replete with quotable quotes, the first pamphlet, Crisis I, begins with the now-familiar 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." Paine, an Englishman living in the colonies, signed his pamphlets anonymously as "Common Sense." ( Michele Fry)

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Political Science

Language: English

[Brian Griffin]

“Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a Government, which we might expect in a country without Government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other law-giver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him, out of two evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expence and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others.”

https://oll.libertyfund.org/page/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet

The page has links to many other documents of interest and importance.