Question

Read this quotation. I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single advantage that this continent can reap, by being connected with Great Britain. . . . Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe. —Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776 One argument for independence in this quotation is that

Answer 1

Paine was arguing against doing anything that would put that independence in jeopardy.

Answer 2

Common Sense was a pamphlet by Thomas Paine in which he advocated for independence of the Thirteenth Colonies. Its arguments and accessible prose made it enormously popular in its time.

Paine is arguing that being connected to Great Britain does not benefit the colonies in any way. The argument he gives is that the goods that America produces (corn in this case) can be sold anywhere in Europe, which means that America does not need to depend on England as a market for its goods.