Practical assignment # 4

Early American Literature (1600-1750),

A New Free Nation (1750-1820)

I. Critical Reading on Early American Literature

1) Summarize the message of “Christian Charity” by John Winthrop (1630).

What does “a city upon a hill” allude to?
John Winthrop's City upon a Hill, 1630
Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our
posterity is to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke
humbly with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one
man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to
abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee
must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience
and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions our owne
rejoyce together, mourne together, labour, and suffer together, allwayes haveing
before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke, our Community as
members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond
of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his owne
people and will commaund a blessing upon us in all our wayes, soe that wee shall
see much more of his wisdome power goodnes and truthe then formerly wee have
beene acquainted with, wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when
tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when hee shall make us
a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it
like that of New England: for wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon
a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with
our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his
present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world,
wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of god and all
professours for Gods sake; wee shall shame the faces of many of gods worthy
servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into Cursses upon us till wee be
consumed out of the good land whether wee are going: And to shutt upp this
discourse with that exhortacion of Moses that faithfull servant of the Lord in his
last farewell to Israell Deut. 30. Beloved there is now sett before us life, and good,
deathe and evill in that wee are Commaunded this day to love the Lord our God,
and to love one another to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commaundements
and his Ordinance, and his lawes, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that
wee may live and be multiplyed, and that the Lord our God may blesse us in the
land whether wee goe to possesse it: But if our heartes shall turne away soe that
wee will not obey, but shall be seduced and worshipp other Gods our pleasures,
and proffitts, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely
perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast Sea to possesse it;
Therefore lett us choose life,
 that wee, and our Seede,
may live; by obeyeing his
voyce, and cleaveing to him,
for hee is our life, and
our prosperity.

2) Read the poem “The Author to Her Book” by Anne Bradstreet:

The Author to Her Book

Anne Bradstreet, 1612 - 1672
Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth didst by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
The visage was so irksome in my sight;
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet;
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save homespun cloth i’ th’ house I find.
In this array ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.
In critic’s hands beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known;
If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none;
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.(1678)
- The metaphor OFFSPRING refers to Anne Bradstreet’s books as children.
Why does she use such an image?
- What is the meaning of line 7?
- In the prolonged metaphor, lines 13 – 24, what particular defects of a book
might be seen?
- Clarify the meaning of line 9.
- Pick out archaisms and describe how they function in the poem.

3) Read the poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet:
“To My Dear and Loving Husband”
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persevere
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

- Notice how the first three lines begin with “if”. How does this add to the
meaning of the lines? What does the “if” do to the meter and iambic rhythm of
the piece?
- For whom is this poem intended? Pay your attention to the phrase “ye
women”.
- What does she mean by the line: “Or all the riches that the East doth hold.”?
- Examine the paradox Bradstreet proposes in “we may live ever”. How does this
connect to the Puritan idea of predestination? Does she use any other paradoxes
in other poems? What effect is achieved by this device?
- In some of her pieces, Bradstreet employs great irony. Why does she use this
device and whom is she often mocking?
4) Read the poem “Meditation 22 (First Series)” by Edward Taylor:
When thy Bright Beams, my Lord, do strike mine Eye,
Methinkes I then could truely Chide out right
My Hide bound Soule that stands so niggardly
That scarce a thought gets glorified by't.
My Quaintest Metaphors are ragged Stuff,
Making the Sun seem like a Mullipuff.

Its my desire, thou shouldst be glorifi'de:

But when thy Glory shines before mine eye,
I pardon Crave, lest my desire be Pride.
Or bed thy Glory in a Cloudy Sky.
The Sun grows wan; and Angells palefac'd shrinke,
Before thy Shine, which I besmeere with Inke.

But shall the Bird sing forth thy Praise, and shall
The little Bee present her thankfull Hum?
But I who see thy shining Glory fall
Before mine Eyes, stand Blockish, Dull, and Dumb?
Whether I speake, or speechless stand, I spy,
I faile thy Glory: therefore pardon Cry.
But this I finde; My Rhymes do better suite
Mine own Dispraise than tune forth praise to thee.
Yet being Chid, whether Consonant, or Mute,
I force my Tongue to tattle, as you see.
That I thy glorious Praise may Trumpet right,
Be thou my Song, and make Lord, mee thy Pipe.

This shining Sky will fly away space,

When thy bright Glory splits the same to make
Thy Majesty a Pass, whose Fairest Face
Too foule a Path is for thy Feet to take.
What Glory then, shall tend thee through the Sky
Draining the Heaven much of Angells dry?

What Light then flame will in thy Judgment Seate,

'Fore which all men, and angells shall appeare?
How shall thy Glorious Righteousness them treate,
Rend'ring to each after his Works done here?
Then Saints With Angells thou wilt glorify:
And burn Lewd Men, and Divells Gloriously.

One glimps, my Lord, of thy bright Judgment day,

And Glory piercing through, like fiery Darts,
All Divells, doth me make for Grace to pray,
For filling Grace had I ten thousand Hearts.
I'de through ten Hells to see thy Judgment Day
Wouldst thou but guild my Soule with thy bright Ray. (1687)
- Find archaisms. How do they influence our perception of a poem that is
several hundred years old? Compare those with the similar examples in Milton,
Shakespeare, etc.?
- What stylistic devices is line 16 rich in? How do they enhance its meaning?
- identify epithets. What do epithets help to highlight?
- In line 20 Taylor contrasts two notions, assessing his poetic skill as humble.
This is known as antithesis. Does this statement change our perception of his
poetic mastery or personality?
- Taylor compares GLORY PIERCING THROUGH to FIERY DARTS in line
38. What additional shades of meaning does this simile imply?
- What similar traits does this poem share with that of Anne Bradstreet? How
does it differ?

II. Critical Reading on American Literature of “A New Free Nation”:

1) Read the extract from the sermon “Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God”
by Jonathan Edwards:
In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving
Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace;
but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as
ver. 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the
cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two
verses next preceding the text […]
Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the
wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a
great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape
for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."

- What did Edwards want to achieve with his sermon? Who did he write it for?
- What might this sermon’s role have been in the pre-Newtonian age? How
different might it be nowadays?
2) Read “The Ballad of Nathan Hale”:
THE BREEZES went steadily through the tall pines,
  A-saying “oh! hu-ush!” a-saying “oh! hu-ush!”
As stilly stole by a bold legion of horse,
  For Hale in the bush, for Hale in the bush.
 
        
“Keep still!” said the thrush as she nestled her young,
5
  In a nest by the road; in a nest by the road.
“For the tyrants are near, and with them appear
  What bodes us no good, what bodes us no good.”
 
The brave captain heard it, and thought of his home
        
  In a cot by the brook; in a cot by the brook.
10
With mother and sister and memories dear,
  He so gayly forsook; he so gayly forsook.
 
Cooling shades of the night were coming apace,
  The tattoo had beat; the tattoo had beat.
        
The noble one sprang from his dark lurking-place,
15
  To make his retreat; to make his retreat.
 
He warily trod on the dry rustling leaves,
  As he passed through the wood; as he passed through the
wood;
And silently gained his rude launch on the shore,
        
  As she played with the flood; as she played with the flood.
20
 
The guards of the camp, on that dark, dreary night,
  Had a murderous will; had a murderous will.
They took him and bore him afar from the shore,
  To a hut on the hill; to a hut on the hill.
 
        
No mother was there, nor a friend who could cheer,
25
  In that little stone cell; in that little stone cell.
But he trusted in love, from his Father above.
  In his heart, all was well; in his heart, all was well.
 
An ominous owl, with his solemn bass voice,
        
  Sat moaning hard by; sat moaning hard by:
30
“The tyrant’s proud minions most gladly rejoice,
  For he must soon die; for he must soon die.”
 
The brave fellow told them, no thing he restrained,—
  The cruel general! the cruel general!—
        
His errand from camp, of the ends to be gained,
35
  And said that was all; and said that was all.
 
They took him and bound him and bore him away,
  Down the hill’s grassy side; down the hill’s grassy side.
’Twas there the base hirelings, in royal array,
        
  His cause did deride; his cause did deride.
40
 
Five minutes were given, short moments, no more,
  For him to repent; for him to repent.
He prayed for his mother, he asked not another,
  To Heaven he went; to Heaven he went.
 
        
The faith of a martyr the tragedy showed,
45
  As he trod the last stage; as he trod the last stage.
And Britons will shudder at gallant Hale’s blood,
  As his words do presage, as his words do presage.
 
“Thou pale king of terrors, thou life’s gloomy foe,
        
  Go frighten the slave, go frighten the slave;
50
Tell tyrants, to you their allegiance they owe.
  No fears for the brave; no fears for the brave.”

  1776.
- What artistic merits is this ballad rich in? What mood prevails here?
- When are the repetitions important? How often do we come across them in folk
songs or ballads?
- Find eye rhymes. What do you think their origin is?
- Find other examples of figurative language and specify their function.

3) Read the extract from “AMERICANISM” by H. L. Mencken:

AMERICANISM, a term first used by John Witherspoon, president of

Princeton University, in 1781, designates (a) any word or combination of words
which taken into the English language in the United States, has not gained
acceptance in England, or, if accepted, has retained its sense of foreignness; and
(b) any word or combination of words which, becoming archaic in England, has
continued in good usage in the United States. The first class is the larger and has
the longer history. The earliest settlers in Virginia and New England, confronted
by plants and animals that were unfamiliar to them, either borrowed the Indian
names or invented names of their own.
Examples are afforded by raccoon (1608), chinkapin (1608), opossum
(1610) and squash (1642) among Indian words and by bull-frog, canvas-back, cat-
bird and live-oak among inventions. The former tended to take anglicised forms.
Thus the Indian isquontersquash (at least, that is how the early chroniclers
recorded it) became squantersquash and was then reduced to squash, and otchock
became woodchuck. Many other words came in as the pioneers gained familiarity
with the Indian life. Such words as hominy, moccasin, pone, tapioca and succotash
remain everyday Americanisms.
The archaisms, of course, showed themselves more slowly. They had to go
out of use in England before their survival in America was noticeable. But by the
beginning of the 18th century there was already a considerable body of them, and
all through that century they increased. The English language in Great Britain,
chiefly under the influence of pedantry in the age of Anne, was changing rapidly,
but in America it was holding to its old forms. There was very little fresh
emigration to the colonies, and their own people seldom visited England. Thus by
the end of the century “I guess” was already an Americanism, though it had been
in almost universal use in England in Shakespeare’s day. So, too, with many other
verbs: to wilt, to whittle, to fellowship and to approbate. And with not a few
adjectives: burly, catty-cornered, likely and clever (in the sense of amiable). And
with multitudes of nouns: cesspool, greenhorn, cordwood, jeans, flap-jack, bay-
window, swingle-tree, muss (in the sense of a row), stock (for cattle) and fall (for
autumn).
Meanwhile, American English had begun to borrow words, chiefly nouns,
from the non-English settlers, and to develop many new words of its own. To the
former class the Dutch contributed cruller, cold-slaw, cockey, scow, boss,
smearcase and Santa Claus, and the French contributed gopher, prairie, chowder,
carry-all and bureau (a chest of drawers). Other contributions came from the
Germans of Pennsylvania, the Spaniards of the southwest, and negro slaves. The
native coinages were large in number, and full of boldness and novelty. To this
period belong, for example, backwoods, hoe-cake, pop-corn, land-slide, shell-
road, half-breed, hired-girl, spelling-bee, moss-back, crazy-quilt, stamping-ground
and cat-boat. These words were all made of the common materials of English, but
there was something in them that was redolent of a pioneer people and a new
world. In their coinage the elegances were disdained; the thing aimed at was
simply vividness. At the same time, verbs were made out of nouns, nouns out of
verbs and adjectives out of both.
In 1789 Benjamin Franklin, who had lived in England, denounced to
advocate, to progress and to oppose as barbarisms, but all of them are good
American to-day, and even good English. Noah Webster, the lexicographer, gave
his imprimatur to to appreciate (in value); to eventuate was popularised by
Gouverneur Morris; and no less a hero than Washington is said to have launched
to derange. Many inventions of that daring era have succumbed to pedagogical
criticism, e.g., to happify, to compromit and to homologise. But others equally
harsh have gradually gained acceptance, e.g., to placate and to deputise. And with
them have come in a vast number of characteristic American nouns, e.g.,
breadstuffs, mileage, balance (in the sense of remainder) and elevator (a place for
storing grain).
Divergent meanings of words
It was during the same period that a number of important words, in daily
use, began to show different meanings in England and America. Some familiar
examples are store, rock, lumber and corn. What Englishmen call a shop was
called a store by Americans as early as 1770, and long before that time corn, in
American, had come to signify, not grains in general, but only maize. The use of
rock to designate any stone, however small, goes back still further, and so does the
use of lumber for timber. Many of these differences were produced by changes in
English usage. Thus cracker, in England, once meant precisely what it now means
in the United States. When the English abandoned it for biscuit the Americans
stuck to cracker, and used biscuit to designate something else. How shoe came to
be substituted in America for the English boot has yet to be determined. There is
indeed much that remains obscure in the early history of such Americanisms. Until
very lately, American philologians kept aloof from the subject, which they
apparently regarded as low. Until George P. Krapp, of Columbia University, took
it up, there was not even any serious investigation of the history of American
pronunciation.
Thus the American dialect of English was firmly established by the time the
Republic was well started, and in the half-century following it departed more and
more from standard English. The settlement of the West, by taking large numbers
of young men beyond the pale of urbane society, made for grotesque looseness in
speech. Neologisms of the most extravagant sorts arose by the thousand, and many
of them worked their way back to the East. During the two decades before the
Civil War everyday American became almost unintelligible to an Englishman;
every English visitor marked and denounced its vagaries. It was bold and lawless
in its vocabulary, careless of grammatical niceties, and further disfigured by a
drawling manner of speech. The congressional debates of the time were full of its
phrases; soon they were to show themselves in the national literature.
Policing the language
After the Civil War there was an increase of national self-consciousness, and
efforts were made to police the language. Free schools multiplied in the land, and
the schoolmarm revealed all her immemorial preciosity. A clan of professional
grammarians arose, led by Richard Grant White; it got help from certain of the
literati, including Lowell. The campaign went to great lengths. “It is me” was
banned as barbarous, though it is perfectly sound historically; eye-ther was
substituted in polite usage for ee-ther, though the latter is correct and the former is
on the part of an American an absurd affectation.
But the spirit of the language, and of the American people no less, was
against such reforms. They were attacked on philological grounds by such
iconoclasts as Thomas R. Lounsbury; they were reduced to vanity by the
unconquerable speech habits of the folk. Under the very noses of the purists a new
and vigorous American slang came into being, and simultaneously the common
speech began to run amok. That common speech is to-day almost lawless. As Ring
Lardner reports it—and he reports it very accurately—it seems destined in a few
generations to dispose altogether of the few inflections that remain in English. “Me
and her woulda went” will never, perhaps, force its way into the grammar-books,
but it is used daily, or something like it, by a large part of the people of the United
States, and the rest know precisely what it means.
1923

- Which two types of Americanisms does Mencken single out? Who first use this
term?
- What circumstances contributed to the appearance of archaisms in New
England?
- How peculiar are the newly created words?
- What ideas about the life of a language can you gather from this excerpt?
- What efforts were made to systemize American English?
- Define the meanings of STORE, CORN, ROCK, JOB-HOLDER, LUMBER,
BISCUIT in American English.
- Find British and Ukrainian equivalents to the listed Americanisms in the text.

4) Read the extract from “The Autobiography” by Benjamin Franklin:

It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at
moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time; I
would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead
me into [...].While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was
often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was
sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative
conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient to
prevent our slipping, and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones
acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform
rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the following method.
In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I met in my reading, I found
the catalogue more or less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer
ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, was by some confined to
eating and drinking, while by others it was extended to mean the moderating every
other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily or mental, even to our
avarice and ambition. I proposed to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather
more names, with fewer ideas annexed to each, than a few names with more ideas;
[…]
These names of virtues, with their precepts were:
1. Temperance
Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling
conversation.
3. Order
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its
time.
4. Resolution
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality
Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry
Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all
unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity.
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak
accordingly.
8. Justice
Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation
Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they
deserve.
10.Cleanliness
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11.Tranquillity
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12.Chastity
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or
the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13.Humility
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I judged it
would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to
fix it on one of them at a time, and, when I should be master of that, then to
proceed to another, and so on, till I should have gone thro' the thirteen; and, as the
previous acquisition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain others, I
arranged them with that view, as they stand above. Temperance first, as it tends to
procure that coolness and clearness of head which is so necessary where constant
vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting
attraction of ancient habits and the force of perpetual temptations. This being
acquired and established, Silence would be more easy; and my desire being to gain
knowledge at the same time that I improved in virtue, and considering that in
conversation it was obtained rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, and
therefore wishing to break a habit I was getting into prattling, punning, and joking,
which only made me acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence the second
place. This and the next, Order, I expected would allow me more time for
attending to my project and my studies. Resolution, once because habitual, would
keep me firm in my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues; Frugality and
Industry, freeing me from my remaining debt, and producing affluence and
independence, would make more easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, etc.,
Conceiving, then, that, agreeably to the advice of Pythagoras in his Garden Verses,
daily examination would be necessary, I contrived the following method for
conducting that examination.
I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues. I ruled
each page with red ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day of the week,
marking each column with a letter for the day. I crossed these columns with
thirteen red lines, marking the beginning of each line with the first letter of one of
the virtues, on which line, and in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black
spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been committed respecting that
virtue upon that day. I determined to give a week's strict attention to each of the
virtues successively. Thus, in the first week, my great guard was to avoid every the
least offense against Temperance, leaving the other virtues to their ordinary
chance, only marking every evening the faults of the day. Thus, if in the first week
I could keep my first line, marked T, clear of spots, I supposed the habit of that
virtue so much strengthened, and its opposite weakened, that I might venture
extending my attention to include the next, and for the following week keep both
lines clear of spots. Proceeding thus to the last, I could go thro' a course complete
in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a years. And like him who, having a garden
to weed, does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would
exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one of the beds at a time, and,
having accomplished the first, proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the
encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I made in virtue, by
clearing successively my lines of their spots, till in the end, by a number of
courses, I should be happy in viewing a clean book, after a thirteen weeks' daily
examination. […]
I entered upon the execution of this plan for self-examination, and continued
it, with occasional intermissions, for some time. I was surprised to find myself so
much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them
diminish. To avoid the trouble of renewing now and then my little book, which, by
scraping out the marks on the paper of old faults to make room for new ones in a
new course, became full of holes, I transferred my tables and precepts to the ivory
leaves of a memorandumbook, on which the lines were drawn with red ink, that
made a durable strain, and on those lines I marked my faults with a black leading
pencil, which marks I could easily wipe out with a wet sponge. After a while I
went thro' one course only in a year, and afterward only one in several years, till at
length I omitted them entirely, being employed in voyages and business abroad,
with a multiplicity of affairs that interfered; but I always carried my little book
with me. […]
In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue
as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as
one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself;
you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had
completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.

1784
- “The Autobiography” is an example of a non-fictional narrative. How would
you picture the protagonist?
- It is a kind of instructive writing flourishing in the 18 th century and closely
interwoven into the Puritan literary tradition. What features distinguish “The
Autobiography” from the work of Jonathan Edwards?
- The project of self-improvement joins the Enlightenment belief in perfectibility
with the Puritan habit of moral self-scrutiny. Which side, if any, prevails here?
- “The Autobiography” also fulfills a didactic function. How does Franklin
avoid moralizing and preaching?

5) Read the extract from “The American Crisis” by Thomas Paine:

December 23, 1776

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 by 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. Britain, 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.
Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or delayed too
long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own simple opinion is, that had
it been eight months earlier, it would have been much better. We did not make a
proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we were in a dependent state.
However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but
ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All that Howe has been doing for this
month past, is rather a ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a
year ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little resolution will
soon recover.
I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever
been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military
destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so
repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which
wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose
that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care
of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look
up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-
breaker, has as good a pretence as he.
'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country.
All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has trembled like an ague
at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth
[fifteenth] century the whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France,
was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed
by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that
heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and save her
fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have
their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short; the
mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit than before. But their
peculiar advantage is, that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and
bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever
undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an
imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They sift out the hidden
thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised Tory
has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on
which Howe arrived upon the Delaware. […]
- How do you regard the statement that THE HARDER THE CONFLICT, THE
MORE GLORIOUS THE TRIUMPH? Find proofs in everyday life.
- Which other sentences would you choose as a memorable quotation?
- Which Americans are criticized by Paine? Which are praised?
- Who is the King of Britain compared to? Find more examples of hyperbole.
- What connection does Paine see between the panic in European history and
the challenge America was facing?

6) Read the extract from “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas

Jefferson:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all
experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security. […]The history of the present King of Great
Britain (King George III 1738 – 1820) is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpations […] To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. […]
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained;
and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. […]
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and
distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of
fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly
firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. […]
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose
obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to
encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new
Appropriations of Lands. […]
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices,
and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to
harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of
our legislatures. […]
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General
Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People
of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are,
and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from
all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them
and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free
and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace,
contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which
Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a
firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each
other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
1776
- What does Jefferson refer to in OPINION OF MANKIND?
- List some anti-American acts by the British Parliament.
- What could the effect of “The Declaration” have been on the people at large?
What is its central message?
- What do the signers of “The Declaration” promise? What could be said about
their commitment to the cause?