what does paine mean by "the precariousness with which all american property is possessed"?

a. britain was likely to attempt to take all the american land holdings.

b. american land was so poor that it was not worth possessing.

A) Britain was likely to attempt to take all the American land holdings.

Explanation:

In 'Common Sense', Paine utilizes various words to acutely accentuate the connotation of Boston being Britain's 'victim', i.e., sorrow, evil, precariousness, wretchedness, and power.  Paine was aware of how land-hungry and desperate Americans were at the time, so as expected, he knew exactly what to say in order to invoke a desirable reaction.  He wrote this passage with high hopes of creating resentment toward Britain, before there were harsher strikes against 'British barbarity'.  

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