On the recordJanuary 1, 1776
Sovereignty must have power to protect all the parts that compose and constitute it: and as UNITED STATES we are equal to the importance of the title, but otherwise we are not.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgThomas Paine: “Sovereignty must have power to protect all the parts that compose and constitute it: and as UNITED STATES we are equal…”
Editor's note · Context
From "The American Crisis," Paine defines true sovereignty as the capacity to protect all its constituent parts, asserting that only as the United States can the nation fulfill this requirement.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
Jan 1, 1791
As soldiers have hitherto been treated in most countries, they might be said to be without a friend.
Jan 1, 1791
The oppressed soldier will become a freeman; and the tortured sailor, no longer dragged through the streets like a felon, will pursue his mercantile voyage in safety.
Jan 1, 1791
If, therefore, the good to be obtained be worthy of a passive, rational, and costless revolution, it would be bad policy to prefer waiting for a calamity that should force a violent one.
Jan 1, 1791
When another nation shall join France, despotism and bad government will scarcely dare to appear.