Question

What argument is Thomas Paine trying to make in this excerpt?

Select the correct answer.
Read this excerpt from Thomas Paine's essay "Common Sense":
Mankind being originally equals in the order of creation, the equality could only be destroyed by some subsequent circumstance; the
distinctions of rich, and poor, may in a great measure be accounted for, and that without having recourse to the harsh, ill-sounding
names of oppression and avarice?. Oppression is often the CONSEQUENCE, but seldom or never the MEANS3 of riches; and though
avarice will preserve a man from being necessitously poor, it generally makes him too timorous to be wealthy.
But there is another and greater distinction, for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is, the distinction of
men into KINGS and SUBJECTS. Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race
of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth inquiring into, and whether
they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind.
1. recourse: source of help
2. avarice.greed
3. means. method for accomplishing or obtaining something
4. timorous, fearful

A.
The differences between the kings and the subjects are not natural or necessary.
B
There will always be a need to separate kings and their subjects.
C
The equality originally enjoyed by people has been damaged by natural disasters.
D
Not all people who belonged to the upper levels of society are cruel.

Answer 1

A. The differences between the kings and the subjects are not natural or necessary.

Step-by-step explanation:

Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution, demanding independence of the people living in the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain.

In the given excerpt he is saying that the differences between the kings and the subjects are not natural or necessary. He does not claim that there will always be a need to separate kings and their subjects. In fact, it's the opposite. He is questioning that difference and whether it brings happiness or misery to mankind. He doesn't explicitly mention natural disasters or discuss what the people who belong to the upper levels of society are like. That is not the point of the text, but the unnecessary distinction between the kings and subjects is.

So, the correct answer is A.