On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
Rights are inherently in all the inhabitants; but charters, by annulling those rights, in the majority, leave the right, by exclusion, in the hands of a few.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgThomas Paine: “Rights are inherently in all the inhabitants; but charters, by annulling those rights, in the majority, leave the right…”
Editor's note · Context
In "Rights of Man," Paine asserts that rights are inherent to all people, while charters serve to annul these rights for the majority, concentrating power in the hands of a few.
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Many of the facts were in themselves principles; such as the declaration of American Independence, and the treaty of alliance between France and America, which recognised the natural rights of man, and justified resistance to oppression.
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It has nothing to dread from attacks; truth has given it an establishment, and time will record it with a name as lasting as his own.