On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
Man has no authority over posterity in matters of personal right; and, therefore, no man, or body of men, had, or can have, a right to set up hereditary government.
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Thomas Paine
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gutenberg.orgThomas Paine: “Man has no authority over posterity in matters of personal right; and, therefore, no man, or body of men, had, or can…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine asserts that no generation has the right to bind future generations to a system of hereditary government.
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