Student Question
In Common Sense, what interest does Paine argue America could pursue better if independent?
Quick answer:
America could better pursue its interest in free trade if independent of Britain, Paine says. As long as it is tied to Britain, America will get pulled into European conflicts on the side of Britain. This will prevent America from independently entering into agreements with countries it would like to have as trading partners.
If independent, America could better pursue free trade with all European nations, Paine says, which is an important American interest.
Paine argues that being a British colony pulls America into European politics in a way that this is detrimental to American trade. Because they are run by Britain, the American colonies are forced to side with Britain against countries they have no personal grievance against and which could be good trading partners. It is in the interest of both the Americans and "all of Europe" Paine states, to have America a "free port."
Europe is so "thick with kingdoms" it is constantly at war, Paine asserts, and any involvement with England drags America into wars that could be disastrous for Americans. So far, Paine says, Americans have been lucky Britain has been a war winner, but this may not continue to always be the case.
Paine brings up the vast...
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distance dividing the American colonies from England to argue that America is not meant to be involved in Britain's entanglements, saying;
Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other, was never the design of Heaven.
The British will always use the American colonies to pursue their own interests and agendas: they feel no tenderness to the colonies beyond what they can get out of them materially, Paine says. Since British and American interests no longer align, it is time for a break.
Paine's argument about needing the freedom to trade with whomever they wanted would have been compelling to Americans at the time he wrote. For many years, Britain had turned a blind eye to the illegal trade deals Americans struck with other countries, a policy called salutary neglect, but since the end of the costly French and Indian War, England had been trying to regulate trade and gain more income in tariffs from the Americans. This was a point of contention for the Americans.