“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”
Thomas Paine, The American Crisis No. 1 (1776)
19 December 1776
This pamphlet was written during one of the darkest periods of the American Revolution, when the Continental Army had been driven out of New York and across New Jersey, with morale at an extremely low point and many soldiers' enlistments set to expire on January 1st.
"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. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."
George Washington was so inspired by this pamphlet that he ordered it to be read aloud to his troops on Christmas Eve 1776, just before they crossed the Delaware River for the pivotal Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. The pamphlet helped strengthen American resolve and contributed to the victories at both Trenton and Princeton, changing the course of the war.
English-American writer Thomas Paine Thomas Paine, oil on canvas by John Wesley Jarvis, c. 1806–07; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 65.4 × 52.1 cm
