2 American Revolution Questions!?

In the American Crisis, Thomas Paine wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country..."

What does this mean and what the heck is a "Sunshine Patriot?"

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Also, there are two Bill Mauldin political cartoons...

here is the link to the an excerpt from one of his books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=oTsQpPr...

A cartoon I need help with is located on page 8...

the other one I need is the very first cartoon about the flag...

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THESE TWO CARTOONS?!?!

%26amp; : Who in the cartoons is a "Sunshine Patriot," and how do you know that?

THANK YOU!

THIS IS REALLY HARD!

2 American Revolution Questions!?sunshine

Ever heard the expression "fair weather friend" - somebody who is your bff so long as everything is going fine? Same concept. A "Sunshine Patriot" was someone who supported the American Revolution when things were going well, but who refused to support it (or even sucked up to the British) when times were tough (when the British were winning). In the flag cartoon, the "Sunshine Patriot" is the owner of the house. The flag has 2 different sides: 1 with the American flag, and 1 with the Union Jack (the British flag), so the owner could just flip it over, depending on who was winning.

The second cartoon (on p. 8) is a reference to how the Continental Army was paid. A mercenary is someone who fights for money, and ONLY for money. In those times, "real" money took the form of gold, silver and copper coins, and notes (paper money) that you could exchange for "real" money, at a bank or the government treasury. The Continental Congress paid its soldiers with paper money, which would have been fine - if they had the "real" money to back it up. Problem was, Congress was always broke, and when they needed money, they'd just print some more. Eventually, they printed so much that the paper money was practically worthless. So when the Continental Army soldiers got "paid," they weren't ACTUALLY getting much at all.

2 American Revolution Questions!?star theater opera theater

A "sunshine patriot" is like a "fair-weather friend" which means that they are a friend or a patriot when it is easy but not when things are difficult.

The person with the British flag on the other side of his American flag is a "sunshine patriot" because he can flip the flag over when he wants to, and become a loyal subject of the crown.

The other cartoon shows people being paid by the new government of the US. Mercenaries are people who are paid to fight, the point is that the revolutionary army was not paid well at all.

Hope that helps

Dana