Paine framed American independence from the start as a universal asylum for human liberty.

Evidence

“I am not induced by motives of pride, party, or resentment to espouse the doctrine of Separation and independence; I am clearly, positively, and conscientiously persuaded that ’tis the true interest of this continent to be so,” Paine writes in summary. And not of this continent alone, he adds, but of people everywhere. “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: America as ‘asylum for mankind’ is foundational to later immigration and asylum-law self-conceptions; connects to course material on values shaping doctrine. — connects to: Paine derived America’s right to self-government from natural geography. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 76; Paine presented American independence as a world-historical opportunity, not mere colonial grievance. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 94

Broader Connections

• Paine presented American independence as a world-historical opportunity, not mere colonial grievance. #corroborates (0.92) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 94