Divine Providence and Justice

Where it surfaces

• The American Crisis

  Paine argues that God will favor the American cause because it is just, and that tyranny will ultimately be punished.

• The Crisis I

  Paine asserts that God will not abandon a people who have sought peace, and that the British king cannot claim divine help; he calls on Americans to 'show your faith by your works.'

• The Crisis V: To Gen. Sir William Howe

  Paine asserts that God has parted America from Britain and that divine justice will punish British atrocities.

• The Crisis VI: To the Earl of Carlisle, General Clinton, and William Eden, Esq., British Commissioners at New York

  Paine attributes American success to 'the interposition of Providence' rather than British benevolence.

• The Crisis VII: To the People of England

  Paine suggests that heaven is not willing for Britain to succeed, implying divine justice against British presumption.

• The Crisis VIII: Address to the People of England

  Paine argues that America has a clear claim to divine providence due to the justness of its cause, while Britain's suffering is self-inflicted and abandoned by nature.

• The Crisis X: On the King of England’s Speech

  Providence is credited for America's prosperity and for permitting Britain's errors; justice is demanded against the king's false piety.