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The American Crises - Pt 4 · Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show Podcast

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  This is plausibly Live, the official podcast of The Dave
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  Bowman Show. In the darkest days of 1776, as
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  Washington's army struggled through snow and defeat, Thomas
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  Paine's words arrived like a spark in the night.
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  His pamphlet The American Crisis began with the line.
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  Every school kid knows. These are the times that try
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  men's souls. But Paine didn't write it for
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  classrooms or history books. He wrote it for men who were
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  cold, hungry and losing faith. Payne's message was simple.
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  Stand together, find your courage and don't give up.
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  He called out the Summer Soldier and Sunshine Patriot, those who
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  only supported the 'cause when victory seemed easy.
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  Real freedom, he said, was earned through struggle.
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  Washington understood that power he had Paine's words read to his
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  soldiers before crossing the Delaware on Christmas night.
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  Those words gave them strength when they had every reason to
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  quit. Paine reminded a fractured
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  people that unity and courage were stronger than fear, and
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  that freedom once fought for was worth everything.