Paine framed American independence as a universal cause of human liberty
Evidence
“O ye that love mankind!” Paine exclaims in the final haunting paragraph of Common Sense’s never-to-be-forgotten third section. “Freedom hath been hunted round the Globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.” By ending the section with these words, Paine gives colonists a nobler cause even than independence: human liberty. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 79
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the course’s foundational-value framing — competing articulations of freedom as both national self-rule and universal human right recur throughout American legal-political thought. — connects to: Paine’s Common Sense reframed colonial resistance as a revolution for independence.; Paine argued that delaying independence risked future demagoguery and loss of liberty — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 78; Paine framed American independence from the start as a universal asylum for human liberty. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 79 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Paine framed American independence from the start as a universal asylum for human liberty.
#expands(0.95) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 79 - Paine framed American independence as a world-historical new beginning, not a mere separation
#expands(0.85) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 94 - Paine presented American independence as a world-historical opportunity, not mere colonial grievance.
#expands(0.85) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 94