Read the excerpt from The Crisis Number I by Thomas Paine. I once felt all that kind of anger, with a man out of you, against the main principles that are held by the Tories: I noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought it was prudent, finished with his unfatherly expression, ‘Well! give me peace in my day.’ Not a man lives on a continent but fully believes that a separation must sometime or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, ‘ if there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;’ in the single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty”

Which is the central idea of this excerpt?
a. Paine feels that everyone should be able to speak freely, which is why he supports independence.
b. Paine believes that the colonist should fight for independence so that their children can live in peace.
c. Paine believes that some people are selfish and take place their needs above others.
d. Paine felt anger for the first time when he saw an interaction between a Tory and a child.