The American Crisis - Thomas Paine

The main idea of this passage was that Paine believed that Americans were being to forgiving of the British and did not understand that the conditions in America would only worsen. Paine was prepared to take on the challenges that they would need to face in order to fight the British, but he needed to get the rest of the colonies to agree with his plan. He talked about how the British treat the American people like slaves, binding them to taxes and other laws that were only created to inconvenience the colonies. Paine wants the entire country to realize that in order to stop the British from binding them furthur, they would all need to work together to fight them off and stand up for their colonies and potential independence. Paine also made many references to God in this passage. He believed that God will give the reward or punishment that people deserve, and if they fight the British and stand up for their rights, God will reward them. He wants the people to start taking action instead of just talking about taking action. "The far and the near, the home counties and the back, the rich and poor, will suffer or rejoice alike." In this quote, Paine is saying that America is one group together and no matter where you stand in society, you are still American and should have equal rights and equally contribute to freeing the colonies. When Paine said, "...but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death," his words reminded me of when Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give me death." Both leaders were willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of their country.