“We have boasted the protection of Great Britain without considering that her motive was interest, not attachment [to the colonies]; that she did not protect us from our enemies on our account, but from her enemies on her account “I challenge the warmest advocate [supporter] for reconciliation, to show a single advantage that this continent can reap, by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge; not a single advantage is derived.”

—Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Which group of North Americans would have most likely supported the message of this excerpt?
A.
enslaved African Americans in the South
B.
British colonists in eastern Ohio
C.
loyalists in South Carolina
D.
Native Americans in western New York