Question

Why did Thomas Paine question British authority to rule the colonies in Common Sense?

Answer 1

He believed the king would only approve laws that benefited Britain.

Answer 2

Answer:

When the discontent of the colonies generalized, Paine criticized the excessive taxes decreed by the government of His Majesty like unjust and economically erroneous, flattering of the contraband and the corruption; the prohibition of trading with other nations, causing the loss of material fortunes, and the lack of continental representatives in the British parliament. With these arguments, Paine said that the only beneficiary of the relationship between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain was the latter, the metropolis, which took most of the benefits. He argued that the solution to all these problems was independence, a posture that he published in 1776 in the most famous of the printed pamphlets of the time, Common Sense, which reached a circulation of half a million copies.

The doctrine of Common Sense marked a milestone in history, as it was the first political writing not to base political decisions on doctrines based on history, religion, nation, honor or a priori notions, but on criteria endorsed by the experience of human beings and reason. Common Sense paved the way for the Declaration of Independence of the United States, ratified on July 4 of the same year.