Dec 19 2008
Subversive Historian – 12/19/08
Paine’s “American Crisis” by Subversive Historian Gabriel San Roman
Two hundred and thirty-two years ago on this day in people’s history, Thomas Paine penned the first of his “American Crisis,†essays. On December 19th, 1776, the eighteenth century enlightenment thinker began his pamphlet series with the famous words, “these are the times that try men’s souls.†Coming at a time when the American Revolution was faltering, Paine’s words were meant to boost the effort to defeat the British colonialists. General George Washington read the first essay to his troops in Trenton, New Jersey. However, as history would have it, Paine and Washington would have a falling out after “The American Crisis†author was imprisoned in France during the course of their revolution. Sensing abandonment, Paine lambasted Washington in an open letter saying, “the world will be puzzled to decide whether you have abandoned good principles or whether you ever had any.â€
With another George still in office today, and another “American Crisis” it’s about time somebody came to bring the Paine!
For Uprising, this is your truth professa’ saying it’s no mystery why they conceal our history!
One Response to “Subversive Historian – 12/19/08”
As a fifth-grade teacher in Colorado, probably the most important thing I can instill in students is the belief that all their voices are important. Their future does not have to be inevitable. “Little voices” can make dramatic impacts on events. That is Thomas Paine’s greatest contribution to our country. His pamphlet, Common Sense, spoke to all the voices in the 13 colonies during a time of great fear and indecision. He gave a vast number of citizens a vision of what each could do, 176 days before the Declaration of Independence. A belief that power should radiate from the citizens. That message is still paramount to all our students today. For that pamphlet alone, Paine needs to be recognized as a intrical part of the American miracle.
Mark Wilensky,
author of “The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine: An Interactive Adaptation for All Ages”