How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
America doth not yet know what opulence is; and although the progress which she hath made stands unparalleled in the history of other nations, it is but childhood, compared with what she would be capable of arriving at, had she, as she ought to have, the legislative powers in her own hands. (A.7)
America has made a lot of economic progress under British rule. But for Paine, this is just child's play compared to what American will accomplish as an independent nation. Just imagine, Paine says, what the country could do if it held onto all the tax money that Britain keeps bleeding out of it.