Answer:
He was the first president of America.
It's a very long sentence with a lot of information, but it is still only a simple sentence (option b): it has only one verb (taught). In order to qualify as a complex or compound-complex sentence, it would have to have at least 2 phrases, each with a different verb.
In common sense, Paine suggested that American independence from Britain was an absolute necessity, since he thought it was absurd for such a small island to rule over such a vast territory.
Answer:
The war pitted the Central Powers—mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey—against the Allies—mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United States. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers.