In de pen dence and Nation Building 39and will continue to be “the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil
and religious liberty from every part of Europe.” Paine’s pamphlet had
such an impact on those who read it that it persuaded many to adopt
the cause of inde pendence. More than 100 , 000 copies of the pamphlet
were snapped up by an eager public, and the work enjoyed twenty-fi ve
printings in 1776 alone. George Washington referred frequently to its
“sound doctrine and unanswerable reasoning.”
On April 12 , 1776 , North Carolina instructed its delegates in Con-
gress to seek separation, and on June 7 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia
offered a resolution stating that these colonies “are and of right ought
to be, free and inde pendent states.” John Adams seconded Lee’s resolu-
tion, but there were some in Congress who argued for reconciliation
with the mother country. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania reminded
them, however, that if the members of the Congress did not “hangWest ward Expansion