Common Sense

by Thomas Paine

But where says some is the King of America? I’ll tell you Friend, he reigns above,

An anecdote lost on America today. We look to cultural and political figures for our salvation rather than God. Even Paine, not a particularly religious man, could see the obviousness of a power above government.

let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve as monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING.

in free countries the law ought to be King;

I take the liberty of rementioning the subject, by observing, that a charter is to be understood as a bond of solemn obligation, which the whole enters into, to support the right of every separate part, whether or religion, personal freedom, or property, A firm bargain and a right reckoning make long friends.