Page "Articles of Confederation" Paragraph 3

To transform themselves from outlaws into a legitimate nation, the colonists needed international recognition for their cause and foreign allies to support it.

In early 1776, Thomas Paine argued in the closing pages of the first edition of Common Sense that the “ custom of nations ” demanded a formal declaration of American independence if any European power were to mediate a peace between the Americans and Great Britain.

The monarchies of France and Spain in particular could not be expected to aid those they considered rebels against another legitimate monarch.

Foreign courts needed to have American grievances laid before them persuasively in a “ manifesto ” which could also reassure them that the Americans would be reliable trading partners.

Without such a declaration, Paine concluded, “ he custom of all courts is against us, and will be so, until, by an independence, we take rank with other nations .”