#3. “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. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” Thomas Paine
Paine’s writing of The American Crisis on December 19th, 1776, was ordered by George Washington to be read to the troops prior to his famous crossing of the Delaware River and the Battle of Trenton. Washington’s victory against the Hessian mercenaries boosted the Continental Army’s flagging morale, and helped to inspire reenlistments. The army had been on the verge of collapse, but the victory at Trenton gave new life to the cause of independence.
