Paine grounded independence in geographic and natural-right arguments from distance

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.” Consider the “folly and childishness,” as Paine puts it, “to be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or a petition, [and] waiting four or five months for an answer.” … What did remain as “absurd” in the printed edition was the supposition that an island should govern a continent. “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’s nature-as-evidence reasoning (distance proves Heaven never intended subjection) is an early instance of reading first principles from nature that recurs across foundational legal argument, echoing course themes of natural versus positive law. — connects to: Tempels grounded philosophy in local orientations rather than Western universals — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 794; Beauvoir grounded ethics in situated particulars rather than abstract universal rules — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 880

Broader Connections

• Tempels grounded philosophy in local orientations rather than Western universals #exemplifies (0.75) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 794
• Beauvoir grounded ethics in situated particulars rather than abstract universal rules #exemplifies (0.75) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 880