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The American Crisis · Character

Lord North

Britain's Prime Minister, the face of parliamentary tyranny whose policies drove the colonies to rebellion and whose name Paine invokes as a byword for oppressive governance.

supporting

Also known as Lord North

First appearance: the crisis i

As a supporting figure in The American Crisis, Lord North is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

North never appears directly, but his ministry's decisions frame every grievance Paine catalogues. He embodies the distant, unaccountable power that Americans rejected, a minister whose tax acts and coercive measures turned loyal subjects into revolutionaries. Paine uses him as a foil: every argument for independence gains force by contrast with the government North represents.

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Character Web

3 connections

A slice of how Lord North sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

LHLord HoweWEWilliam EdenGWGeorge Washing…LNLord North

Relationship types

  • Other

Character groups

  • Key Figures and Factions
  • British and Loyalist Opponents

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

SetupEscalationAftermathClimax
  • Setup
  • Escalation
  • Breaking point
  • Aftermath
  • Closing

This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of the conflic…

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See Lord North in the crisis i
Who is Lord North in The American Crisis?