Excerpt from crisis no. 1
thomas paine
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 his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and 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 , with an
army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but 'to bind us in all cases whatsoever,' and
if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. even the expression is impious,
for so unlimited a power can belong only to god.
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the author's purpose in writing this passage is