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Primary sourceBook1776-1783

The American Crisis

Thomas Paine · 1776-1783

A series of pamphlets by Thomas Paine, begun in 1776, meant to sustain American morale during the darkest days of the Revolutionary War.

Paine wrote this series to rally Patriot morale during the war's hardest years.

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Photograph of the first page of a printed 1776 pamphlet titled The American Crisis, Number I, by Thomas Paine, with handwritten annotations at the top reading 'by Thomas Paine' and 'published in the Penn. Journal' and 'June 1776'. The printed text begins 'These are the times that try men's souls.'
Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. I, first page, 1776.

About this source

What it is

The American Crisis is a series of pamphlets written by Thomas Paine, published from 1776 to 1783. The first appeared in a Pennsylvania newspaper in December 1776, signed with the pseudonym "Common Sense."

Why it matters

Written when the Patriot cause looked close to collapse, the pamphlets aimed to keep colonists fighting through hardship. Its famous opening line, "These are the times that try men's souls," became a rallying cry. The series shows Paine's role not just as a thinker but as a wartime propagandist trying to shape public feeling during a crisis.

Look closer

  • Why do you think Paine used a pseudonym?
  • What effect might the opening line have had on readers in winter 1776?
  • What does this pamphlet reveal about the challenges of keeping a revolution going?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Paine on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1776 Philadelphia pamphlet Common Sense, addressed to the Inhabitants of America, printed by R. Bell in Third Street. Handwritten annotations include a name in the top corner and Thomas Paine's name near the bottom.Book

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Common Sense

Thomas Paine · 10 January 1776

Title page of Rights of Man, reading 'Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution, by Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and Author of the Work Intitled Common Sense. London: Printed for J. S. Jordan, No. 166, Fleet-Street. MDCCXCI.' Handwritten ink marks appear in the upper right corner.Book

Primary source

Rights of Man

Thomas Paine · 1791-1792

Title page of The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. Text reads: 'The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology. By Thomas Paine, Secretary for Foreign Affairs to Congress in the American War, and author of the works entitled Common Sense, and Rights of Man, &c. Paris: Printed by Barrois. London: Sold by D. I. Eaton, at the Cock and Swine, No. 74, Newgate-street. 1794. Price two shillings.'Book

Primary source

The Age of Reason

Thomas Paine · 1794-1807

Scan of the engrossed Declaration of Independence on aged parchment. Heading reads 'In Congress, July 4, 1776' with the title 'The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America' below. Dense handwritten text fills the page; signatures appear at the bottom.Document

Primary source

Declaration of Independence

Continental Congress (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) · 1776

Title page of 'Reflections on the Revolution in France', set in serif capitals. Text reads: on the revolution in France, and on the proceedings in certain societies in London relative to that event, in a letter intended to have been sent to a gentleman in Paris, by the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, London: printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, MDCCXC. Yellowed paper with a faint stamp mark in the middle.Book

Primary source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Edmund Burke · November 1790

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