On the record
It is probable, however, that it was not pride and haughtiness alone that dictated the Resolutions of Congress, but a distrust of the sincerity of the offers of Britain, a determination not to give up their independence, and ABOVE ALL, THE ENGAGEMENTS INTO WHICH I HAD ENTERED BY THEIR LATE TREATY WITH FRANCE.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.org