Question

I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he. Which sentence best describes Paine's claim in the excerpt?

Answer 1

D) God would defend the American colonists' fight because their cause was upright.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the given excerpt, Thomas Paine proclaims his belief that God is on their side, that is, on the Americans' side, and that they will be sure to get their victory against the British. This is because they (Americans) have long fought the war and are still resilient.

Paine also infers that it sounds outrageous that "the king of Britain can look up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he." This description of the enemy presents how Paine projects them(Americans) to be on the right side and that Britain was wrong.

Thus, the correct answer is that Paine thinks God will defend American colonies and their fight against the British because their cause is upright.