Quaker History/American Revolution/Greene, Nathanael/Paine, Thomas

Independence Day

St. Petersburg Times/St. Petersburg/FL/USA/3-Jul-05

..."And I think also that some wars are necessary. I think one of the most interesting things about (1776) and the whole struggle altogether is ... the man who turned out to be our most effective, I'm inclined to say brilliant, general was a Quaker, Nathaniel Greene. "The man who expressed for the man in the ranks, for the common American, what the war was about best, and who really was as important a force almost as Washington, was Thomas Paine, who was a Quaker, who put aside his pacifist feelings, because, as he said, "The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth.'