Hello, thank you for joining me today for Give Him 15.

Since the Give Him 15 posts have to be written and recorded the previous workday,

the President had obviously not yet given his March 4th address to Congress when this was prepared.

I will comment on his speech on all my platforms later today.

The title of today's post is, Times That Expose Men's Souls. I have quoted from Thomas Payne's essay, The American Crisis, on previous given 15 posts.

I think of it often, read it occasionally, finding it inspiring, as did Washington's Army in the Revolutionary War.

In an article published by History.com,

Missy Sullivan gives us background on this famous essay

and why it was so important.

In it, she says, quote,

December 19, 1776,

now this is me speaking, so that's six months after we declared our independence.

On December 19th, 1776, Thomas Payne publishes the essay, The American Crisis, a shot in the arm to

patriots during a particularly difficult stretch of the

American Revolution. General George Washington's troops were encamped at McConkey's ferry on the Delaware

River opposite Trenton, New Jersey. In August, they had suffered humiliating defeats and lost New York City to British troops.

That was only a month after the war began. Between September and December, 11,000 American volunteers gave up the fight and returned to their families.

General Washington could foresee the destiny of a rebellion without an army if the rest of his

men returned home when their service contracts expired on December 31st.

He knew that without an upswing in morale and a significant victory,

the American Revolution would come to a swift and humiliating end.

Thomas Payne was similarly astute. His common sense was the clarion call that began the

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