The American Crisis: A Letter
- William Allen (author)
- Jack P. Greene (collection editor)
The text uses vituperative rhetoric rare even for other defenders of British policy. The author relies heavily on the analogy of the aggrieved parent and ungrateful child, with the American colonists exemplifying “Ingratitude…the disgrace of human Nature.” The main charge is an unwillingness to bear the expenses of their own defense. He also chastises American duplicity for holding slaves “because of their Complexion.” Such, he claims, “is an American Logic, unknown to the generous Briton.”
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The text of these 18th century pamphlets has been converted by machine from scanned PDFs of the original microfilm copies. While the text has been machine-proofed, transcription errors may still remain. For example, the 18th-century long S, ſ , may be rendered as “f,” some words may be incorrectly transcribed, and there may be repeated words or phrases.