Why did thomas paine question british authority to rule the colonies in common sense?

He believed that the colonies should be independent since they have nothing to do with Britain other than pay taxes. There were no colonies' representatives in the parliament of Britain and there were no ways to make decisions on their own, which is something they should be able to do considering how vast and developed the colonies were.

The answer is william henry harrison pursued and defeated british forces retreating into canada.

The re-election of the president abraham lincoln.