Paine derived America’s right to self-government from natural geography.

Evidence

To economy and history, Paine adds geography as a third commonsensical argument for separation. In that day of sailing ships, he offered the sheer distance between England and America as “a strong and natural proof, that the authority of the one over the other, was never the design of Heaven.” … In no instance hath nature made the satellite larger than its primary planet,” Paine observed, “and as England and America, with respect to each other reverses the common order of nature, it is evident they belong to different systems. England to Europe: America to itself.” In short, he concludes in a phrase, “A government of our own is our natural right.” — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 76

Categorization

• XREF: Paine turning ‘a government of our own is our natural right’ into a premise grounds arguments later deployed in constitutional self-determination doctrine. — connects to: Paine framed American independence from the start as a universal asylum for human liberty. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 79; Paine grounded American rights in natural society, not British subjecthood. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 49