Every attempt, now, to support the authority of the king and Parliament of Great Britain over America, is treason against every State; therefore it is impossible that any one can pardon or screen from punishment an offender against all.
During the American Revolution, this passage defines supporting British authority as treason against the newly independent states.
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More from Thomas Paine
It was become evident, that no constitution, worthy of being called by that name, could be established on anything less than a national ground.
They had a cause at stake, on which depended their freedom or their slavery.
Whether robbery shall be banished from courts, and wretchedness from countries?
The American constitutions were to liberty what a grammar is to language: they define its parts of speech, and practically construct them into syntax.