Lord Cornwallis took Fort Lee on 20 November 1776, and for the next five weeks the Continental army retreated across New Jersey closely pursued by an enemy seemingly on the verge of final victory. In that dark hour, two major spokesmen for the American cause, Thomas Paine and John Jay, penned inspirational essays rallying disheartened Patriots to the defense of the nation. Although Paine’s text was addressed primarily to Pennsylvanians and Jay’s to the citizens of New York, both documents were widely circulated and read and received national recognition.

The two publications appeared almost simultaneously, and while it is likely they both reflected themes Washington and his staff then wished to inculcate, it seems unlikely that either author could have been directly influenced by the other. Paine was a witness to the military disasters of the late autumn, being then aide-de-camp to Nathanael Greene, and he is known to have begun work on his piece between 22 and 28 November, while the army was encamped at Newark. As soon as he finished it, he went to Philadelphia to arrange for publication, and The American Crisis Number 1 appeared in the Pennsylvania Journal on 19 December and was rapidly reprinted in numerous newspapers and pamphlets.1

The chronology of Jay’s labor is less well known. Although the provincial congress no doubt authorized its composition, that is not recorded in its minutes, which are incomplete for the month of December. Considering the length of the Address and the evident care with which it was reasoned and written, its production may well have consumed several days. Just when Jay submitted the address and what amendment or debate, if any, occurred is undocumented. However, the date on the final text, 23 December, shortly after the American defeats at Long Island, Manhattan, and White Plains, and a few days before Washington surprised the Hessians at Trenton, probably marked the day of its final approval. It was signed by Abraham Ten Broeck as president of that provincial congress and printed by Samuel Loudon in Fishkill under the title An Address of the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New-York to their Constituents.2 The provincial congress forwarded a manuscript copy of the text to the Continental Congress on 28 December, noting they had intended to have it translated into German. They stated that if Francis Lewis, the New York delegate most likely to be attending Congress at the time, could not get the text translated into German and arrange to have three hundred copies printed and sent to New York for distribution, Congress should do so at the expense of the state, “as it may, in the opinion of this Convention, tend in some small degree to rouse the people from that lethargick situation which must in the end prove fatal to American freedom.”3 “We only lament,” the convention added, that the Congress had “not paid some small attention to this object, since the wisdom of their councils and their own dignity must have given infinite weight to sentiments of such general importance.”4

After the executive committee at Philadelphia forwarded the dispatch to Congress in Baltimore, to which it had fled in anticipation of General Howe’s attack on Philadelphia, the Continental Congress took up the provincial congress’s suggestion. On 16 January 1777 it authorized a German translation, publication, and distribution of the text not only for New York’s German-speaking inhabitants, but also for those in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and recommended that it be given “serious perusal” by all Americans.5 English-language reprints were produced in Philadelphia and in Baltimore, while a Dutch translation was distributed in New York.6 By 22 January 1777, Charles De Witt wrote Jay (below) from Kingston describing copies of the pamphlet circulating in the area as “much liked” and “Calculated to draw the attention of the Meanest capacity, seriously to consider our present situation.”

Although Paine and Jay were arguing the same case, their minds worked in different ways, and their tracts were consequently dissimilar. Both Paine’s Crisis and Jay’s Address ring with patriotic fervor, contain many passages of genuine eloquence, and end by calling their readers to action. Both authors point out that Howe avoided a general engagement until expiring enlistments had eroded Washington’s army toward the end of 1776, and both argue that the loss of Philadelphia will not be a fatal blow. Both liken Britain’s insistence on American submission to its authority as tantamount to consigning current and future generations to slavery, and both predict that God will favor the American cause, but Jay gives far greater emphasis to both those themes.

The first of the several Crisis papers opens with the electrifying declaration that “these are the times that try men’s souls,” and it addresses itself directly to believers in the American cause, urging them to recognize that “by perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue.” The paper contains a vivid firsthand account of the campaign from Fort Lee to the Delaware, emphasizing that both officers and men “bore it with a manly and martial spirit” and that their military effectiveness was not destroyed. At the same time, Paine gives much of his attention to the problem of how to deal with the disaffected. He suggests trying to persuade them that “separation must some time or other finally take place.” Should logic not convince them and should they persist in aiding the British, the necessary response must be the confiscation of their estates. Paine’s uncomplicated logic and his superb journalistic style make this a propaganda piece of extraordinary force and enduring vitality.

Jay’s purpose in the Address is the same as Paine’s in the Crisis—to ensure victory by instilling courage—but Jay is more focused on deterring Loyalism and combating the “seductive” and “duplicitous” offers of pardon and protection promulgated by the Howe brothers, themes not taken up at length by Paine until his essay The American Crisis, no. 2, which appeared in February 1777. Jay’s method, moreover, is different, for, where Paine relies on simple exhortation, Jay offers a lawyer’s brief in which he explains past failure, warns against listening to insincere peace feelers, and demonstrates the justice of the American cause and the inevitability of final triumph if only the people will rise to the occasion. Tiny Britain, he proclaims, is beset by weaknesses, especially problems relating to supply and finance as well as growing discontent at home. Conversely, expansive America will prove difficult to occupy and enjoys great advantages, especially an improving supply system and the prospect of European support (on which Jay was well informed because of his position on the Committee of Secret Correspondence, his correspondence with Silas Deane, and his discussions with international traders who approached Congress and the provincial congress). Jay’s argument rests on Lockean logic, and his appeal is much more intellectual than Paine’s. His clarity of expression, however, makes his writing comprehensible to a mass audience.

Unlike Paine, Jay relies heavily on religious explanations and imagery, incorporating many allusions to the Old Testament as well as to historical examples, both ancient and modern. He depicts British tyranny and aggression as God’s punishment for the irreligion, luxury, and vice that were developing in the colonies, and he blames recent military disasters on the overconfidence that followed the British evacuation of Boston. However, Jay then presents a less punitive image, arguing that God, unlike the British king, is not “implacable” and postulating a divinely sanctioned westward march of Christianity and freedom that meant a just God would not permit the American cause to fail.

At least two other Patriot pamphlets were published in 1777 in response to the military crisis and Howe’s offer of pardons, and they reiterated themes raised by Paine and Jay. One was William Livingston’s address to the New Jersey Council and Assembly of 28 February.7 Another, focusing on the religious themes Jay had raised, including the need to end slavery to preserve God’s favor, was a twenty-two-page pamphlet published in Connecticut by John Trumbull, signed “A hearty friend to all in the colonies” and sometimes attributed to Jabez Huntington. It is entitled A Discourse on the Times, from Romans, viii, 31. What shall we say to these things?—If God be for us, who can be against us. I. The importance of God’s being for us. II. What must absolutely be done, on our part, that the blessed God may be on our side, or for us. III. How blessed it will be to have God for us.8