“ Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? ”
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Paine |
|---|---|
| Source | Common Sense |
| Topic | power government prosperity |
| Date | 1776 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/147/147-h/147-h.htm |
Context
“Instead of going forward we shall go backward, or be perpetually quarrelling or ridiculously petitioning.—We are already greater than the king wishes us to be, and will he not hereafter endeavour to make us less? To bring the matter to one point. Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? Whoever says No to this question is an independant, for independancy means no more, than, whether we shall make our own laws, or whether the king, the greatest enemy this continent hath, or can have, shall tell us «there shall be no laws but such as I like.»”
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Meaning and analysis
