Read the following passage from The Crisis.
"A noted [Tory], who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a
child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as most I ever saw, and after speaking his
mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression,
"Well! Give me peace in my day." Not a man lives on the Continent but fully believes that
a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent would
have said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace:"
and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty."
What point is Thomas Paine trying to make by relating this anecdote?
War is very difficult on children and should not be entered into lightly.
A father who only wants peace in his day is selfish.
Peace is an expensive concept, so it should always be sought first
America will break with Britain eventually, so now is the time to act.