How Did George Washington Deserve The American Crisis

The winter that George Washington’s soldiers spent at Valley Forge was backbreaking, cold, and the men had little clothing. Smallpox ran rampant, with a 40% death rate and a painful inoculation process. Because of the lack of clean water, the soldiers suffered from dysentery. After a few weeks, they had run out of meat, and were forced to survive on firecakes, a crude mixture of flour and water. Many froze or starved to death, causing the death rate to grow to 10 men per day. However, George Washington was an powerful inspiring force, doing everything he could to uplift his men, he worked day and night without leaving like all of his officers. He tried to do everything in his power to get his army through the winter. The soldiers, despite

The American Crisis by Thomas Paine states thus: “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.” This means that the hardships that the men were living were a test of their character; if they stayed, it meant that they were real soldiers who were deserving of the utmost respect, and they had a strong and enduring heart. If they had left however, they are like the sunshine patriot and the summer soldier that Thomas Paine speaks of, they would have failed the test of character. Paine also states that “the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” This means that only the things that are fought for, that are bought with blood and tears, are truly worth the most value. It means that if living through Valley Ford were easy, then living through Valley Ford wouldn’t be important or dear. The tyranny that Britain imposed on them was like slavery, Paine stated. The men who lived through Valley Forge would be proud to say that they not only had a character of gold, but fought to abolish the tyranny that Britain