ABSTRACT
A major aim of Thomas Paine’s propaganda was to boost America and to belittle Britain. Paine turned his attention to Britain, accusing the nation of being ‘mad and foolish, blind to its own interest and bent on its own destruction’. Paine had been anxious to play down the extent of English support for the American cause, since the advocates of reconciliation had warned that independence would alienate their friends in Britain. The disaffected were so numerous that they would welcome an offer of assistance from the Americans! The reversal of the enemy’s advance Washington’s crossing of the Delaware restored faith in the possibility of American victory in the war. Paine sought to encourage this by boosting America and belittling Britain. By boosting America and belittling Britain, Paine reinforced the optimists who banked on surviving as an independent nation.
