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“It was this great struggle [between church and state] that peopled America. It was not religion alone… but it was a love of universal liberty… formed by a sensible people, — I mean the Puritans… This people had been so vexed and tortured by the powers of those days, for no other crime than their knowledge and their freedom of inquiry and examination… that they at last resolved to fly to the wilderness for refuge…
It may be thought polite and fashionable by many modern fine gentlemen, perhaps, to deride the characters of these persons… But such ridicule is… grossly injurious and false. Religious to some degree of enthusiasm it may be admitted they were; but this can be no peculiar derogation [dishonor] from their character… Whatever imperfections may be justly ascribed to them… their policy was founded in wise, humane, and benevolent principles… Tyranny in every form, shape, and appearance was their disdain and abhorrence; no fear of punishment, nor even of death itself in exquisite tortures, had been sufficient to conquer that steady, manly, pertinacious spirit with which they had opposed the tyrants of those days in church and state…” John Adams, A Dissertation on The Canon and Feudal Law, 1765
“I can now inform you that the Congress have made choice of the modest and virtuous, the amiable, generous, and brave George Washington, Esquire, to be General of the American army… This appointment will have a great effect in cementing and securing the union of these colonies.” John Adams, Letter to Mrs. Adams, June 17, 1775
“But America is a great, unwieldy body. Its progress must be slow. It is like a large fleet sailing under convoy. The fleetest sailors must wait for the dullest and slowest. Like a coach and six, the swiftest horses must be slackened, and the slowest quickened, that all may keep an even pace.” John Adams, Letter to Mrs. Adams, June 17, 1775
“In a Community consisting of large Numbers, inhabiting an extensive country, it is not possible that the whole should assemble, to make Laws. The most natural Substitute for an Assembly of the whole, is a Delegation of Power, from the Many, to a few of the most wise and virtuous… [And] great Care should be taken in the Formation of it, to prevent unfair, partial and corrupt Elections.” John Adams, Letter to John Penn (Thoughts on Government), March 27, 1776
“… Yesterday, the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America… A resolution was passed without one dissenting Colony, ‘that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States…’” John Adams, Letter to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776
“The Bill for freeing the Negroes, I hope will sleep for a Time. We have Causes enough of Jealousy Discord and Division, and this Bill will certainly add to the Number.” John Adams, Letter to James Warren, July 7, 1777
“… [During the Revolutionary War,] men of reflection were less apprehensive of danger from the formidable power of fleets and armies they must determine to resist than from those contests and dissensions which would certainly arise concerning the forms of government to be instituted over the whole and over the parts of this extensive country.
Relying, however, on the purity of their intentions, the justice of their cause, and the integrity and intelligence of the people, under an overruling Providence which had so signally protected this country from the first, the representatives of this nation, then consisting of little more than half its present number, not only broke to pieces the chains which were forging and the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder the ties which had bound them, and launched into an ocean of uncertainty.” John Adams, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1797
“In this dangerous crisis [under the Articles of Confederation] the people of America were not abandoned by their usual good sense, presence of mind, resolution, or integrity. Measures were pursued to concert a plan to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. The public disquisitions, discussions, and deliberations issued in the present happy Constitution of Government.
Employed in the service of my country abroad during the whole course of these transactions, I first saw the Constitution of the United States in a foreign country. Irritated by no literary altercation, animated by no public debate, heated by no party animosity, I read it with great satisfaction, as the result of good heads prompted by good hearts, as an experiment better adapted to the genius, character, situation, and relations of this nation and country than any which had ever been proposed or suggested. In its general principles and great outlines it was conformable to such a system of government as I had ever most esteemed, and in some States, my own native State in particular, had contributed to establish. Claiming a right of suffrage, in common with my fellow-citizens, in the adoption or rejection of a constitution which was to rule me and my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did not hesitate to express my approbation of it on all occasions, in public and in private. It was not then, nor has been since, any objection to it in my mind that the Executive and Senate were not more permanent. Nor have I ever entertained a thought of promoting any alteration in it but such as the people themselves, in the course of their experience, should see and feel to be necessary or expedient, and by their representatives in Congress and the State legislatures, according to the Constitution itself, adopt and ordain.” John Adams, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1797
“… when we look back upon the many dangers from which our country hath, even from its first settlement, been delivered, and the policy and power of those, who have to this day sought its ruin, we are sensibly struck with an admiration of Divine goodness, and would religiously regard the arm which has so often shielded us.” Samuel Adams, Address of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts to the Governor, June 3, 1766
“It has ever been our pride to cultivate harmony and union, upon the principles of liberty and virtue…” Samuel Adams, Address of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts to the Governor, June 3, 1766
“Is it not of the utmost Importance that our Vigilance should increase, that the Colonies should be united in their Sentiments… [And] any Infringements… on the common Rights of all… should have the united Efforts of all… This we take to be the true Design of the Establishment of our Committees of Correspondence.” Samuel Adams, Committee of Correspondence of Massachusetts to Other Committees of Correspondence, October 21, 1773
“It requires but a small portion of the gift of discernment for anyone to foresee, that providence will erect a mighty empire in America; and our posterity will have it recorded in history, that their fathers migrated from an island in a distant part of the world, the inhabitants of which had long been revered for wisdom and valor. They grew rich and powerful; these emigrants increased in numbers and strength. But they were at last absorbed in luxury and dissipation; and to support themselves in their vanity and extravagance they coveted and seized the honest earnings of those industrious emigrants. This laid a foundation of distrust, animosity and hatred, till the emigrants, feeling their own vigor and independence, dissolved every former band of connection between them, and the islanders sunk into obscurity and contempt.” Samuel Adams, Letter to Arthur Lee, April 4, 1774
“Our Committee of Correspondence will write an Answer to the Letter they received from yours by this opportunity. In order that you may have an Understanding of our Appointment I think it necessary to inform you, that we are a Committee, not of the Trade, but of the whole Town; chosen to be as it were out- guards to watch the Designs of our Enemies. We were appointed near two years ago, and have a Correspondence with almost every Town in the Colony. By this Means we have been able to circulate the most early Intelligence of Importance to our Friends in the Country, & to establish an Union which is formidable to our Adversaries.” Samuel Adams, Letter to Charles Thomson, May 30, 1774
“Our grateful Acknowledgments are due to the Supreme Being who has not been regardless of the multiplied Oppressions which the Inhabitants of that City [Boston] have suffered under the Hand of an execrable Tyrant.
… I fully agree in Opinion with a very celebrated Author, that, ‘Freedom or Slavery will prevail in a (City or) Country according as the Disposition & Manners of the People render them fit for the one or the other’; and I have long been convinced that our Enemies have made it an Object, to eradicate from the Minds of the People in general a Sense of true Religion & Virtue, in hopes thereby the more easily to carry their Point of enslaving them. Indeed my Friend, this is a Subject so important in my Mind, that I know not how to leave it. Revelation assures us that, ‘Righteousness exalteth a Nation.’
… The diminution of public Virtue is usually attended with that of public Happiness, and the public Liberty will not long survive the total Extinction of Morals… Could I be assured that America would remain virtuous, I would venture to defy the utmost Efforts of Enemies to subjugate her. You will allow me to remind you, that the Morals of that City [Boston] which has born so great a Share in the American Contest, depend much upon the Vigilance of the respectable Body of Magistrates of which you are a Member.” Samuel Adams, Letter to John Scollay, April 30, 1776
“We are now on this continent, to the astonishment of the world, three millions of souls united in one common cause… There are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing Providence in our favor; our success has staggered our enemies, and almost given faith to the infidels; so that we may truly say it is not our own arm which has saved us.
… [If] an accommodation takes place between England and America on any other terms than as independent states, I shall date the ruin of this country… The warm sunshine of influence would melt down the virtue which the violence of the storm rendered more firm and unyielding. In a state of tranquility, wealth and luxury, our descendants would forget the arts of war and the noble activity and zeal which made their ancestors invincible. Every art of corruption would be employed to loosen the bond of union which renders our resistance formidable. When the spirit of liberty which now animates our hearts and gives success to our arms is extinct, our numbers will accelerate our ruin, and render us easier victims to tyranny.
... Other nations have received their laws from conquerors; some are indebted for a constitution to the sufferings of their ancestors through revolving centuries. The people of this country alone have formally and deliberately chosen a government for themselves, and with open and uninfluenced consent bound themselves to a social compact. Here no man proclaims his birth or wealth as a title to honorable distinction or to sanctify ignorance and vice with the name of hereditary authority. He who has most zeal and ability to promote public felicity, let him be the servant of the public.” Samuel Adams, Oration Delivered at the State House, August 1, 1776
“The Man who is conscientiously doing his Duty will ever be protected by that Righteous and all powerful Being, and when he has finished his Work he will receive an ample Reward. I am not more convinced of anything than that it is my Duty, to oppose to the utmost of my Ability the Designs of those who would enslave my Country; and with Gods Assistance I am resolved to oppose them till their Designs are defeated or I am called to quit the Stage of Life.” Samuel Adams, Letter to Mrs. Adams, January 29, 1777
“I have expressed my wish that the honest & virtuous Friends of our Country would cultivate a cordial Esteem for each other.” Samuel Adams, Letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
“… in the Cause of Liberty and Virtue… there must be Associations of Men of unshaken Fortitude. A general Dissolution of Principles & Manners will more surely overthrow the Liberties of America than the whole Force of the Common Enemy. While the People are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their Virtue they will be ready to surrender their Liberties to the first external or internal Invader. How necessary then is it for those who are determined to transmit the Blessings of Liberty as a fair Inheritance to Posterity, to associate on public Principles in Support of public Virtue.” Samuel Adams, Letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
“This subject [the U.S. Constitution], Sir, is of the greatest magnitude, and has employed the attention of every rational man in the United States…
It is essential that the people should be united in the Federal government, to withstand the common enemy, and to preserve their valuable rights and liberties.” Samuel Adams, Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, January 31, 1788
“… the natives are excited to war, [and] with this, the wickedness begins; the slaves torn away from parents, wives, children, from their friends and companions, their fields and flocks, their home and country, [and] are transported to the European settlements in America, with no other accommodation on ship-board than what is provided from brutes… only to be placed, and that for life, in subjection to a dominion and system of laws the most tyrannical that ever were tolerated upon the face of the earth.” Elias Boudinot, Annals of Congress, March 22, 1790
“Another essential ingredient in the happiness we enjoy as a nation, and which arises from the principles of our revolution, is the right that every people have to govern themselves in such a manner as they best calculated for the common benefit.
It is a principle interwoven with our Constitution, and not one of the least blessings purchased by that glorious struggle… that every man has a natural right to be governed by laws of his own making, either in person or by his representative…
This, fellow-citizens! is a most important practicable principle, first carried into complete execution by the United States of America…
To you, ye citizens of America! do the inhabitants of the earth look with eager attention for the success of a measure on which their happiness and prosperity so manifestly depend.
To use the words of a famous foreigner, ‘You are become the hope of human nature, and ought to become its great example. The asylum opened in your land for the oppressed of all nations must console the earth.’
On your virtue, patriotism, integrity, and submission to the laws of your own making, and the government of your own choice, do the hopes of men rest with prayers and supplications for a happy issue.” Elias Boudinot, Oration before the Society of the Cincinnati, July 4, 1793
“Previous to Independence all disputes must be healed and harmony prevail… then am I for an independent State and all its consequences, as then I think they will produce Happiness to America. It is a true saying of a Wit- We must hang together or separately.” Carter Braxton, Letter to Landon Carter, April 14, 1776
“As to the doctrine of slavery and the right of Christians to hold Africans in perpetual servitude, and sell and treat them as we do our horses and cattle, that (it is true) has been heretofore countenanced by the Province Laws formerly, but nowhere is it expressly enacted or established. It has been a usage -- a usage which took its origin from the practice of some of the European nations, and the regulations of British government respecting the then Colonies, for the benefit of trade and wealth.
But whatever sentiments have formerly prevailed in this particular or slid in upon us by the example of others, a different idea has taken place with the people of America, more favorable to the natural rights of mankind, and to that natural, innate desire of Liberty, with which Heaven (without regard to color, complexion, or shape of noses, features) has inspired all the human race. And upon this ground our [Massachusetts] Constitution of Government, by which the people of this Commonwealth have solemnly bound themselves, sets out with declaring that all men are born free and equal -- and that every subject is entitled to liberty, and to have it guarded by the laws, as well as life and property -- and in short is totally repugnant to the idea of being born slaves. This being the case, I think the idea of slavery is inconsistent with our own conduct and Constitution; and there can be no such thing as perpetual servitude of a rational creature, unless his liberty is forfeited by some criminal conduct or given up by personal consent or contract.” Justice William Cushing, Charge to the Jury in Commonwealth v. Jennison, April 1783
“To conclude, I beg I may not be understood to infer, that our general convention was divinely inspired when it formed the new federal constitution, merely because that constitution has been unreasonably and vehemently opposed: yet, I must own, I have so much faith in the general government of the world by Providence, that I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance to the welfare of millions now existing, and to exist in the posterity of a great nation, should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent ruler, in whom all inferior spirits live, move, and have their being.” Benjamin Franklin, A Comparison of the Conduct of the Ancient Jews, and of the Anti federalists in the United States of America, 1788
“Let Americans disdain to be the instruments of European greatness! Let the thirteen States, bound together in a strict and indissoluble Union, concur in erecting one great American system, superior to the control of all transatlantic force or influence, and able to dictate the terms of the connection between the old and the new world!” Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 11, November 23, 1787
“… when the credit of a country is in any degree questionable, it never fails to give an extravagant premium, in one shape or another, upon all the loans it has occasion to make. Nor does the evil end here; the same disadvantage must be sustained upon whatever is to be bought on terms of future payment.
From this constant necessity of borrowing and buying dear, it is easy to conceive how immensely the expenses of a nation, in a course of time, will be augmented by an unsound state of the public credit.
… If the maintenance of public credit, then, be truly so important, the next inquiry which suggests itself is, by what means it is to be effected [made better]? The ready answer to which question is, by good faith, by a punctual performance of contracts. States [nations], like individuals, who observe their engagements, are respected and trusted: while the reverse is the fate of those, who pursue an opposite conduct.
Every breach of the public engagements, whether from choice or necessity, is in different degrees hurtful to public credit.” Alexander Hamilton, Report on Public Credit, January 9, 1790
“The Nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a Master and deserves one.” Alexander Hamilton, The Warning No. III, February 21, 1797
“Is it not amazing, that at a time, when [the] Rights of Humanity are defined & understood with precision, in a Country above all others fond of Liberty, that in such an Age, & such a Country we find Men, professing a Religion [the] most humane, mild, meek, gentle & generous; adopting a Principle [slavery] as repugnant to humanity as it is inconsistent with the Bible and destructive to Liberty.
… I cannot but wish well to a people whose System imitates [the] Example of him [Jesus] whose Life was perfect. –And believe me, I shall honor the Quakers for their noble Effort to abolish Slavery. It is equally calculated to promote moral & political Good.
Would anyone believe that I am Master of Slaves of my own purchase!
… I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil.- Everything we can do is to improve it. If it happens in our day, if not, let us transmit to our descendants together with our Slaves, a pity for their unhappy Lot, & an abhorrence for Slavery. If we cannot reduce this wished-for Reformation to practice, let us treat the unhappy victims with lenity [tenderness]. It is the furthest advance we can make toward Justice. [We owe to the] purity of our Religion to show that it is at variance with that Law which warrants Slavery.” Patrick Henry, Letter to Robert Pleasants, January 18, 1773
“The Distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.” Patrick Henry, Notes of Debates in the Continental Congress, September 6, 1775
“… most highly do I thank & honor you for your unremitting Care of the public Welfare… How rarely has it happened to be the Lot of one Man to save his Country twice!
… I am ashamed to refuse the little Boon [favor, petition] you ask of me, when your Example is before my Eyes—My Children would blush to know, that you & their Father were Contemporaries, & that when you asked him to throw in his Mite for the public Happiness, he refused to do it. In Conformity with these Feelings, I have declared myself a Candidate for this County at the next Election, since the Receipt of your Letter, but enjoying very indifferent Health I cannot leave my Home to make the Declaration efficacious as I could wish—The proceedings of the last Assembly have alarmed many thinking people hereabouts; & although there be Cause, for serious Apprehension, I trust the Friends of Order, Justice, & Truth will once more experience the Favor of that God who has so often & so signally bestowed his Blessings upon our Country.” Patrick Henry, Letter to George Washington (In Response to Washington’s Letter on January 15, 1799, and four months prior to his death), February 12, 1799
“If I am asked what is to be done when a people feel themselves intolerably oppressed, my answer is ready: Overturn the government. But do not, I beseech you, carry matters to this length without provocation. Wait at least until some infringement is made upon your rights which cannot be otherwise redressed; for if ever you recur to another change, you may bid adieu forever to representative government. You can never exchange the present government but for a monarchy. If the administration have done wrong, let us all go wrong together. Let us trust God and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs. Let us preserve our strength for the French, the English, the Germans, or whoever else shall dare invade our territory, and not exhaust it in civil commotions and intestine wars.” Patrick Henry, Charlotte Courthouse, March 4, 1799
“… let universal charity, public spirit and private virtue be inculcated, encouraged and practiced; unite in preparing for a vigorous defense of your country, as if all depended on your own exertions; and when you have done these things, then rely upon the good Providence of Almighty God for success, in full confidence, that without His blessing all our efforts will evidently fail.” John Jay, Address of the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York to their Constituents, December 23, 1776
“… it is easy to see that jealousies and uneasiness may gradually slide into the minds and cabinets of other nations, and that we are not to expect that they should regard our advancement in union, in power and consequence by land and by sea, with an eye of indifference and composure.
The people of America are aware that inducements to war may arise out of these circumstances, as well as from others not so obvious at present, and that whenever such inducements may find fit time and opportunity for operation, pretenses to color and justify them will not be wanting. Wisely, therefore, do they consider union and a good national government as necessary to put and keep them in SUCH A SITUATION as, instead of INVITING war, will tend to repress and discourage it. That situation consists in the best possible state of defense, and necessarily depends on the government, the arms, and the resources of the country.” John Jay, Federalist No.4, November 7, 1787
“… they who know the value of liberty, and are blessed with the enjoyment of it, ought not to subject others to slavery, is, like most other moral precepts, more generally admitted in theory than observed in practice. This will continue to be too much the case while men are impelled to action by their passions rather than their reason, and while they are more solicitous to acquire wealth than to do as they would be done by. Hence it is that India and Africa experience unmerited oppression from nations which have been long distinguished by their attachment to their civil and religious liberties, but who have expended not much less blood and treasure in violating the rights of others than in defending their own. The United States are far from being irreproachable in this respect. It undoubtedly is very inconsistent with their declarations on the subject of human rights to permit a single slave to be found within their jurisdiction, and we confess the justice of your strictures on that head.
Permit us, however, to observe, that although consequences ought not to deter us from doing what is right, yet that it is not easy to persuade men in general to act on that magnanimous and disinterested principle. It is well known that errors, either in opinion or practice, long entertained or indulged, are difficult to eradicate, and particularly so when they have become, as it were, incorporated in the civil institutions and domestic economy of a whole people.
Prior to the great revolution, the great majority or rather the great body of our people had been so long accustomed to the practice and convenience of having slaves, that very few among them even doubted the propriety and rectitude of it. Some liberal and conscientious men had, indeed, by their conduct and writings, drawn the lawfulness of slavery into question, and they made converts to that opinion; but the number of those converts compared with the people at large was then very inconsiderable. Their doctrines prevailed by almost insensible degrees, and was like the little lump of leaven which was put into three measures of meal: even at this day, the whole mass is far from being leavened, though we have good reason to hope and to believe that if the natural operations of truth are constantly watched and assisted, but not forced and precipitated, that end we all aim at will finally be attained in this country.
The Convention which formed and recommended the new Constitution had an arduous task to perform, especially as local interests, and in some measure local prejudices, were to be accommodated. Several of the States conceived that restraints on slavery might be too rapid to consist with their particular circumstances; and the importance of union rendered it necessary that their wishes on that head should, in some degree, be gratified.
It gives us pleasure to inform you, that a disposition favorable to our views and wishes prevails more and more, and that it has already had an influence on our laws. When it is considered how many of the legislators in the different States are proprietors of slaves, and what opinions and prejudices they have imbibed on the subject from their infancy, a sudden and total stop to this species of oppression is not to be expected.” John Jay, Letter to the English Anti-Slavery Society, June 1788
“We [Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Dabney Carr & myself] were all sensible that the most urgent of all measures, was that of coming to an understanding with all the other colonies, to consider the British claims as a common cause of all, and to produce a unity of action; and for this purpose that a Committee of Correspondence, in each colony, would be the best instrument for inter-communication: and that their first measure would probably be, to propose a meeting of Deputies [delegates] from every colony, at some central place, who should be charged with the direction of the measures which should be taken by all.” Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography, Spring 1773
“… at an age when their [children’s] judgments are not sufficiently matured for religious inquires, their memories may here be stored with the most useful facts from Grecian, Roman, European and American history. The first elements of morality too may be instilled into their minds; such as, when further developed as their judgments advance in strength, may teach them how to work out their own greatest happiness, by showing them that it does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed them, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.” Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, February 27, 1781
“I sincerely wish you may find it convenient to come here [to Europe]. The pleasure of the trip will be less than you expect but the utility greater. It will make you adore your own country, it's soil, it's climate, it's equality, liberty, laws, people & manners. My God! how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy... how much it is their interest to preserve uninfected by contagion those peculiarities in their government & manners to which they are indebted for these blessings.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Monroe, June 17, 1785
“… the acquisition of science is a pleasing employment. I can assure you that the possession of it is what (next to an honest heart) will above all things render you dear to your friends, and give you fame and promotion in your own country. When your mind shall be well improved with science, nothing will be necessary to place you in the highest points of view but to pursue the interests of your country, the interests of your friends, and your own interests also with the purest integrity, the most chaste honor. The defect of these virtues can never be made up by all the other acquirements of body and mind. Make these then your first object. Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation or under any circumstances that it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing tho’ it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.
Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exercise as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue you may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts in every moment of life and in the moment of death. If ever you find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations. Tho’ you cannot see when you fetch one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain-dealing, and never fear their leading you out of the labyrinth in the easiest manner possible. The knot which you thought a Gordian one [very difficult] will untie itself before you. Nothing is so mistaken as the supposition that a person is to extricate himself from a difficulty, by intrigue, by chicanery, by dissimulation, by trimming, by an untruth, by an injustice. This increases the difficulties tenfold, and those who pursue these methods, get themselves so involved at length that they can turn no way but their infamy becomes more exposed.
It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual, he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
“… there is not a country on earth where there is greater tranquility, where the laws are milder, or better obeyed: where everyone is more attentive to his own business, or meddles less with that of others: where strangers are better received, more hospitably treated, and with a more sacred respect.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Maria Cosway, October 12, 1786
“… the good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army. They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves. The people are the only censors of their governors: and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro’ the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under European governments.
… under pretense of governing they [European governments] have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe. Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you & I, & Congress & Assemblies, judges & governors shall all become wolves.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edward Carrington, January 16, 1787
“… can history produce an instance of rebellion so honorably conducted? I say nothing of its motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness. God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty
We have had thirteen States independent for eleven years. There has been one rebellion. That comes to one rebellion in a century and a half, for each State. What country before, ever existed a century and a half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Stevens Smith, November 13, 1787
“… whatever follies we may be led into as to foreign nations, we shall never give up our union, the last anchor of our hope, and that alone which is to prevent this heavenly country from becoming an arena of gladiators. Much as I abhor war, and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind, and anxiously as I wish to keep out of the broils of Europe, I would yet go with my brethren into these rather than separate from them. But I hope we may still keep clear of them, notwithstanding our present thralldom, and that time may be given us to reflect on the awful crisis we have passed through, and to find some means of shielding ourselves in the future from foreign influence, commercial, political, or in whatever other form it may be attempted. I can scarcely withhold myself from joining in the wish of Silas Deane that there were an ocean of fire between us and the old world.
A perfect confidence that you are as much attached to peace and union as myself, that you equally prize independence of all nations and the blessings of self government, has induced me freely to embosom myself to you, and let you see the light in which I have viewed what has been passing among us from the beginning of this war [French Revolution]. And I shall be happy at all times in an intercommunication of sentiments with you, believing that the dispositions of the different parts of our country have been considerably misrepresented and misunderstood in each part as to the other, and that nothing but good can result from an exchange of opinions and information between those whose circumstances and morals admit no doubt of the integrity of their views.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Elbridge Gerry, May 13, 1797
“Peace is undoubtedly at present the first object of our nation. Interest and honor are also national considerations.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Elbridge Gerry, June 21, 1797
“I do then with sincere zeal wish an inviolable preservation of our present federal constitution, according to the true sense in which it was adopted by the states…
I am for preserving to the states the powers not yielded by them to the Union, & to the legislature of the Union its constitutional share in the division of powers: and I am not for transferring all the powers of the states to the general government, & all those of that government to the Executive branch. I am for a government rigorously frugal & simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt: and not for a multiplication of officers & salaries merely to make partisans, & for increasing, by every device, the public debt, on the principle of its being a public blessing…
The first object of my heart is my own country. In that is embarked my family, my fortune, & my own existence. I have not one farthing of interest, nor one fiber of attachment out of it, nor a single motive of preference of any one nation to another but in proportion as they are more or less friendly to us.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Elbridge Gerry, January 26, 1799
“… I believe [we] shall obtain a majority in the legislature of the US attached to the preservation of the Federal constitution according to its obvious principles & those on which it was known to be received, [and] attached equally to the preservation to the states of those rights unquestionably remaining with them, friends to the freedom of religion, freedom of the press, trial by jury & to economical government, opposed to standing armies, paper [money] systems, war, & all connection other than of commerce with any foreign nation…
Our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government. Public servants at such a distance, & from under the eye of their constituents, will, from the circumstance of distance, be unable to administer & overlook all the details necessary for the good government of the citizen; and the same circumstance by rendering detection impossible to their constituents, will invite the public agents to corruption, plunder & waste: and I do verily believe that if the principle were to prevail of a common law being in force in the US. (which principle possesses the general government at once of all the powers of the state governments, and reduces us to a single consolidated government) it would become the most corrupt government on the face of the earth.
You have seen the practices by which the public servants have been able to cover their conduct, or, where that could not be done, the delusions by which they have varnished it for the eye of their constituents. what an augmentation of the field for jobbing, speculating, plundering, office-building & office hunting, would be produced by an assumption of all the state powers into the hands of the general government. The true theory of our constitution is surely the wisest & best, that the states are independent as to everything within themselves, & united as to everything respecting foreign nations. Let the general government be once reduced to foreign concerns only, and let our affairs be disentangled from those of all other nations, except as to commerce which the merchants will manage the better, the more they are left free to manage for themselves, and our general government may be reduced to a very simple organization, & a very inexpensive one: a few plain duties to be performed by a few servants.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Gideon Granger, August 13, 1800
“… every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle… I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government cannot be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or, have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative government… entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry… enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter -- with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities [blessings].” Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801
“When they examine the real principles of both parties, I think they will find little to differ about. I know, indeed, that there are some of their leaders who have so committed themselves, that pride, if no other passion, will prevent their coalescing [uniting]. We must be easy with them.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Moses Robinson, March 23, 1801
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people [the U.S. Constitution] which declared that their [U.S.] legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Danbury Baptists, January 1, 1802
“… [My] prayers to all my friends [are] to cherish mutual good will, to promote harmony & conciliation, and, above all things, to let the love of our country soar above all minor passions…” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Hollins, May 5, 1811
“A letter from you calls up recollections very dear to my mind. It carries me back to the times when, beset with difficulties & dangers, we were fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man, his right of self-government. Laboring always at the same oar, with some wave ever ahead threatening to overwhelm us & yet passing harmless under our bark [boat] we knew not how, we rode through the storm with heart & hand, and made a happy port. Still we did not expect to be without rubs and difficulties; and we have had them…
No circumstances… have suspended for one moment my sincere esteem for you; and I now salute you with unchanged affections and respect.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Adams, January 21, 1812
“You know my [book] collection, its condition and extent. I have been 50 years making it, & have spared no pains, opportunity or expense to make it what it is. While residing in Paris I devoted every afternoon I was disengaged, for a summer or two, in examining all the principal bookstores, turning over every book with my own hands, and putting by everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare & valuable in every science…
During the same period, and after my return to America, I was led to procure also whatever related to the duties of those in the high concerns of the nation. So that the collection, which I suppose is of between 9 and 10,000 volumes, while it includes what is chiefly valuable in science and literature generally, extends more particularly to whatever belongs to the American statesman… Nearly the whole [collection] are well bound, abundance of them elegantly, and of the choicest editions existing…
I do not know that it contains any branch of science which Congress would wish to exclude from their collection. There is in fact no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Samuel H. Smith, September 21, 1814
Note: After the British burned the Library of Congress in 1812, Jefferson sold his library (6487 volumes) to Congress in 1815. Sadly, a second fire on Christmas Eve of 1851, destroyed nearly two thirds of the 6,487 volumes.
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never can be. … There is no safe deposit for… [liberty and property] but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816
“… a rigid economy of the public contributions, and absolute interdiction of all useless expenses, will go far towards keeping the government honest and unoppressive. But the only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary to keep the waters pure. We are all, for example in agitation even in our peaceful country. For in peace as well as in war the mind must be kept in motion.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Marquis de Lafayette, November 4, 1823
“The states in N. America… entered into a compact (which is called the Constitution of the U.S. of America) by which they agreed to unite in a single government as to their relations with each other, and with foreign nations, and as to certain other articles particularly specified. They retained at the same time, each to itself, the other rights of independent government comprehending mainly their domestic interests…
This [Virginia] assembly does disavow, and declare to be most false and unfounded, the doctrine that the compact [U.S. Constitution], in authorizing its federal branch to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense [and] general welfare of the U.S., has given them thereby a power to do whatever they may think, or pretend, would promote the general welfare, which construction would make that, of itself, a government, without limitation of powers; but that the plain sense and obvious meaning was that they might levy the taxes necessary to provide for the general welfare by the various acts of power therein specified and delegated to them, and by no others…
While the [Virginia] General assembly thus declares the rights retained by the states, rights which they have never yielded and which this state will never voluntarily yield, they do not mean to raise the banner of disaffection, or of separation from their sister-states… They know and value too highly the blessings of their union… to make every difference of construction a ground of immediate rupture. They would indeed consider such a rupture as among the greatest calamities which could befall them; but not the greatest. There is yet one greater: submission to a government of unlimited powers. It is only when the hope of avoiding this shall become absolutely desperate, that further forbearance could not be indulged…
We owe [it]… to ourselves, to our federal brethren, and to the world at large, to pursue with temper and perseverance the great experiment which shall prove that man is capable of living in society, governing itself by laws self-imposed, and securing to its members the enjoyment of life, liberty, property and peace; and further to show that even when the government of its choice shall show a tendency to degeneracy, we are not at once to despair… the will & the watchfulness of its sounder parts will reform its aberrations, recall it to original and legitimate principles, and restrain it within the rightful limits of self-government. And these are the objects of this Declaration and Protest.” Thomas Jefferson, Solemn Declaration and Protest of the Commonwealth of Virginia, December 24, 1825
“… the constitution of the US is a compact of independent nations…” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edward Everett on April 8, 1826
“The real wonder [of the Constitutional Convention] is that so many difficulties should have been surmounted, and surmounted with a unanimity almost as unprecedented as it must have been unexpected. It is impossible for any man of candor to reflect on this circumstance without partaking of the astonishment. It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.
… The history of almost all the great councils and consultations held among mankind for reconciling their discordant opinions, assuaging their mutual jealousies, and adjusting their respective interests, is a history of factions, contentions, and disappointments, and may be classed among the most dark and degraded pictures which display the infirmities and depravities of the human character.
… [Therefore,] we are necessarily led to two important conclusions. The first is, that the convention must have enjoyed, in a very singular degree, an exemption from the pestilential influence of party animosities the disease most incident to deliberative bodies, and most apt to contaminate their proceedings. The second conclusion is that all the deputations composing the convention were satisfactorily accommodated by the final act, or were induced to accede to it by a deep conviction of the necessity of sacrificing private opinions and partial interests to the public good…” James Madison, Federalist No 37, January 11, 1788
“A people therefore, who are so happy as to possess the inestimable blessing of a free and defined constitution, cannot be too watchful against the introduction, nor too critical in tracing the consequences, of new principles and new constructions, that may remove the landmarks [boundaries or limits] of power.
…
Every just view that can be taken of this subject, admonishes the public, of the necessity of a rigid adherence to the simple, the received and the fundamental doctrine of the constitution, that the power to declare war including the power of judging of the causes of war is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature: that the executive has no right, in any case to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war: that the right of convening and informing Congress, whenever such a question seems to call for a decision, is all the right which the constitution has deemed requisite or proper…
In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found, than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department.
… the executive is the department of power most distinguished by its propensity to war: hence it is the practice of all states [nations], in proportion as they are free, to disarm this propensity of its influence.” James Madison (Writing as Helvidius), Gazette of the United States, September 14, 1793
“Under the benign influence of our Republican institutions, and the maintenance of peace with all nations, whilst so many of them were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just policy were enjoyed in an unrivaled growth of our faculties and resources. Proofs of this were seen in the improvements of agriculture; in the successful enterprises of commerce; in the progress of manufactures, and useful arts; in the increase of the public revenue, and the use made of it in reducing the public debt; and in the valuable works and establishments everywhere multiplying over the face of our land.
… Indulging no passions which trespass on the rights or the repose of other nations, it has been the true glory of the United States to cultivate peace by observing justice, and to entitle themselves to the respect of the nations at war, by fulfilling their neutral obligations, with the most scrupulous impartiality. If there be candor in the world, the truth of these assertions, will not be questioned. Posterity at least will do justice to them.
…
To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations having correspondent dispositions; to maintain sincere neutrality towards belligerent nations; to prefer in all cases, amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of differences, to a decision of them by an appeal to Arms; to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so degrading to all Countries, and so baneful to free ones; to foster a spirit of independence too just to invade the rights of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not to look down upon them in others; to hold the Union of the States as the basis of their peace and happiness; to support the Constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the States and to the people, as equally incorporated with, and essential to the success of, the general system; to avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience, or the functions of religion so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction; to preserve in their full energy, the other salutary provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and of the freedom of the press; to observe economy in public expenditures; to liberate the public resources by an honorable discharge of the public debts; to keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering, that an Armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of Republics; that without standing Armies their liberty can never be in danger; nor with large ones, safe; to promote by authorized means, improvements friendly to agriculture, to manufactures and to external as well as internal commerce; to favor, in like manner, the advancement of science and the diffusion of information as the best aliment to true liberty; to carry on the benevolent plans which have been so meritoriously applied to the conversion of our aboriginal neighbors from the degradation and wretchedness of savage life, to a participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state: As far as sentiments and intentions such as these can aid the fulfillment of my duty, they will be a resource which cannot fail me.” James Madison, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1809
“Among the commercial abuses still committed under the American flag… it appears that American citizens are instrumental in carrying on a traffic in enslaved Africans, equally in violation of the laws of humanity and in defiance of those of their own country. The same just and benevolent motives which produced interdiction in force against this criminal conduct will doubtless be felt by Congress in devising further means of suppressing the evil.” James Madison, Second Annual Address to Congress, December 5, 1810
“… the United States, whilst they wish for War with no Nation, will buy peace of none. It is a principle incorporated into the settled policy of America, that as peace is better than War, War is better than tribute.” James Madison, Letter to Omar Bashaw (Dey of Algiers), August 21, 1816
“Something more, then, is required to encourage virtue, suppress vice, preserve public peace, and secure national independence. There must be something more to hope than pleasure, wealth, and power. Something more to fear than poverty and pain. Something after death more terrible than death. There must be religion. When that ligament is torn, society is disjointed, and its members perish. The nation is exposed to foreign violence and domestic convulsion. Vicious rulers, chosen by a vicious people, turn back the current of corruption to its source. Placed in a situation where they can exercise authority for their own emolument, they betray their trust. They take bribes. They sell statutes and decrees. They sell honor and office. They sell their conscience. They sell their country.” Gouverneur Morris, An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society, September 4, 1816
“Every man, therefore, will find the history of his own country the most interesting and the most instructive…
Our struggle, to defend and secure the rights of our fathers, tore away that veil which had long concealed the mysteries of government. Here, on this far western coast of the broad Atlantic Ocean; here, by the feeble hand of infant unconnected colonies, was raised a beacon to rouse and to alarm a slumbering world. It awoke, and was convulsed. What tremendous scenes it has exhibited!
The history of our day is, indeed, a school for princes; and, therefore, the proper school for American citizens. Exercising, by their delegates, the sovereign power, it is meet [fitting] they know how to assert and how to preserve their freedom.” Gouverneur Morris, An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society, September 4, 1816
“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.” Thomas Paine, The [American] Crisis, No. 1, December 23, 1776
“The American people owe it to themselves, and to the cause of free Government, to prove by their establishments for the advancement and diffusion of Knowledge [schools], that their political Institutions [established on Representative Government]… are as favorable to the intellectual and moral improvement of Man, as they are conformable [suitable] to his individual & social Rights. What spectacle can be more edifying or more seasonable, than that of Liberty & Learning, each leaning on the other for their mutual & surest support?” James Madison, Letter to William T. Barry, August 4, 1822
“He [the student] must avoid neutrality in all questions that divide the state, but he must shun the rage, and acrimony of party spirit. He must be taught to love his fellow creatures in every part of the world, but he must cherish with a more intense and peculiar affection, the citizens of [his community]… and of the United States.” Benjamin Rush, The Mode of Education Proper in a Republic, 1786
“It is not sufficient for a Man to be a passive friend & well wisher to the Cause. This, and every other Cause, of such a Nature, must inevitably perish under such an opposition. Every person should be active in some department or other, without paying too much attention to private Interest. It is a great stake we are playing for, and sure we are of winning if the Cards are well managed—Inactivity in some—disaffection in others—and timidity in many, may hurt the Cause; nothing else can, for Unanimity will carry us through triumphantly in spite of every exertion of Great Britain, if linked together in one indissoluble Band—this they now know, & are practicing every stratagem which Human Invention can devise, to divide us, & unite their own People…” George Washington, Letter to John Augustine Washington, March 31, 1776
“His Excellency General Washington strictly forbids all the officers and soldiers of the Continental army, of the militia and all recruiting parties, plundering any person whatsoever…
[It] is expected that humanity and tenderness to women and children will distinguish brave Americans, contending for liberty, from infamous mercenary ravagers…” George Washington, Proclamation, January 1, 1777
“Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered! General Arnold who commanded at West Point, lost to every sentiment of honor—of public and private obligation—was about to deliver up that important Post into the hands of the enemy. Such an event must have given the American cause a deadly wound if not a fatal stab. Happily the treason has been timely discovered to prevent the fatal misfortune. The providential train of circumstances which led to it affords the most convincing proof that the Liberties of America are the object of divine Protection.
At the same time that the Treason is to be regretted, the General cannot help congratulating the Army on the happy discovery. Our Enemies despairing of carrying their point by force are practicing every base art to effect by bribery and Corruption what they cannot accomplish in a manly [adult, courageous] way.
Great honor is due to the American Army that this is the first instance of Treason of the kind where many were to be expected from the nature of the dispute—and nothing is so bright an ornament in the character of the American soldiers as their having been proof against all the arts and seduction of an insidious enemy.
Arnold has made his escape to the Enemy but Mr. André the Adjutant General to the British Army who came out as a spy to negotiate the Business is our Prisoner.
His Excellency the commander in Chief has arrived at West Point from Harford and is no double taking the proper measures to unravel fully, so hellish a plot.” George Washington, General Orders, September 26, 1780
“The ability of the Country to discharge the debts which have been incurred in its defense, is not to be doubted, an inclination I flatter myself will not be wanting: the path of our duty is plain before us—honesty will be found on every experiment to be the best and only true policy—let us then as a Nation be just—let us fulfill the public Contracts which Congress had undoubtedly a right to make for the purpose of carrying on the War, with the same good faith we suppose ourselves bound to perform our private engagements…” George Washington, Circular Letter to the States, June 8, 1783
“We are either a United people, or we are not.” George Washington, Letter to James Madison, November 30, 1785
“For it is an undoubted fact, that the People of America entertain a grateful remembrance of past services as well as a favorable disposition for commercial and friendly connections with your Nation [France].
You appear to be, as might be expected from a real friend to this Country, anxiously concerned about its present political situation. So far as I am able I shall be happy in gratifying that friendly solicitude. As to my sentiments with respect to the merits of the new Constitution, I will disclose them without reserve… It appears to me, then, little short of a miracle, that the Delegates from so many different States (which States you know are also different from each other in their manners, circumstances and prejudices) should unite in forming a system of national Government, so little liable to well founded objections.
… Powers… are so distributed among the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches, into which the general Government is arranged, that it can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an Oligarchy, an Aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form; so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the People.
… the proposed Constitution… is provided with more checks and barriers against the introduction of Tyranny, & those of a nature less liable to be surmounted, than any Government hitherto instituted among mortals…” ” George Washington, Letter to Marquis de Lafayette, February 7, 1788
“… the Convention of Maryland has ratified the federal Constitution by a majority of 63 to 11 voices. That makes the seventh State which has adopted it. Next Monday, the Convention in Virginia will assemble—we have still good hopes of its adoption here: though by no great plurality of votes. South Carolina has probably decided favorably before this time. The plot thickens fast.
A few short weeks will determine the political fate of America for the present generation and probably produce no small influence on the happiness of society through a long succession of ages to come. Should everything proceed with harmony and consent according to our actual wishes and expectations; I will confess to you sincerely, my dear Marquis; it will be so much beyond anything we had a right to imagine or expect eighteen months ago, that it will demonstrate as visibly the finger of Providence, as any possible event in the course of human affairs can ever designate it. It is impracticable for you or anyone who has not been on the spot, to realize the change in men’s minds and the progress towards rectitude in thinking and acting which will then have been made.” George Washington, Letter to Marquis de Lafayette, May 28, 1788
“The prospect that a good general government will in all human probability be soon established in America, affords me more substantial satisfaction; than I have ever before derived from any political event. Because there is a rational ground for believing that not only the happiness of my own countrymen, but that of mankind in general will be promoted by it.” George Washington, Letter to William Gordon, December 23, 1788
“… I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love…” George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789
“No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their United Government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most Governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me I trust in thinking, that there are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of a new and free Government can more auspiciously commence.” George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789
“By the article establishing the Executive Department, it is made the duty of the President ‘to recommend to your consideration, such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.’ … I behold the surest pledges, that as on one side, no local prejudices, or attachments; no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests: so, on another, that the foundations of our National policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the preeminence of a free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its Citizens, and command the respect of the world.
I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous [great, noble] policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity [happiness]: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789
“… I retired at the conclusion of the war, with an idea that my country could have no farther occasion for my services, and with the intention of never entering again into public life: But when the exigence [urgent need] of my country seemed to require me once more to engage in public affairs, an honest conviction of duty superseded my former resolution, and became my apology for deviating from the happy plan which I had adopted.” George Washington, Letter to the United Baptist Churches of Virginia, May 1789
“… my compliance with the call of my country, and my dependence on the assistance of Heaven to support me in my arduous undertakings, have, so far as I can learn, met the universal approbation of my countrymen.
While I reiterate the possession of my dependence upon Heaven as the source of all public and private blessings; I will observe that the general prevalence of piety, philanthropy, honesty, industry and economy seems, in the ordinary course of human affairs are particularly necessary for advancing and confirming the happiness of our country. While all men within our territories are protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of their consciences; it is rationally to be expected from them in return, that they will be emulous of evincing the sincerity of their profession by the innocence of their lives, and the beneficence of their actions: For no man, who is profligate in his morals, or a bad member of the civil community, can possibly be a true Christian, or a credit to his own religious society.” George Washington, Letter to the General Assy. of the Presbyterian Church, May 30 – June 5, 1789
“The virtue, moderation, and patriotism which marked the steps of the American people in framing, adopting, and thus far carrying into effect our present system of government has excited the admiration of nations; and it only now remains for us to act up to those principles which should characterize a free and enlightened people, that we may gain respect abroad and ensure happiness to ourselves and our posterity.
It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn. To obtain this desirable end—and to establish the government of laws, the union of these States is absolutely necessary; therefore in every proceeding, this great, this important object should ever be kept in view; and so long as our measures tend to this; and are marked with the wisdom of a well informed and enlightened people, we may reasonably hope, under the smiles of Heaven, to convince the world that the happiness of nations can be accomplished by pacific revolutions in their political systems, without the destructive intervention of the sword.” George Washington, Letter to the Pennsylvania Legislature, September 12, 1789
“Born, Sir, in a land of liberty; having early learned its value; having engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it; having, in a word, devoted the best years of my life to secure its permanent establishment in my own country; my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and my best wishes are irresistibly excited, whenever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom.” George Washington, Letter to Pierre Auguste Adet (French Minister), January 1, 1796
“… I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue…” George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796
“… you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.” George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796
“The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation [name] derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.” George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796
“… overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.” George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796
“Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it - It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?” George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796
“I hope… the wisdom, temper [calmness] and firmness of the Government (supported by the great mass of the People) will dispel the threatening [Political] clouds, and that all will end without shedding of Blood. To me, this is so demonstrable, that not a particle of doubt would dwell on my mind relative thereto if our Citizens would advocate their own cause instead of that of any other Nation under the Sun; that is, instead of being Frenchmen, or Englishmen in Politics—they would be Americans—indignant at every attempt of either of these—or any other Power to establish an influence in our Councils, or that should presume to sow the Seeds of distrust, or disunion among ourselves. No policy, in my opinion, can be more clearly demonstrated than that we should do justice to all but have no political connection with any of the European Powers, beyond those which result from, and serve to regulate our Commerce with them.” George Washington, Letter to William Heath, May 20, 1797
“… the great mass of the citizens of this state [Virginia] are well affected [inclined]… to the general government, and the Union… but how is this to be reconciled with their suffrages [voting] at the Elections of Representatives… who are men opposed to the first, and… would destroy the latter? Some among us have endeavored to account for this inconsistency, and though convinced themselves of its truth, they are unable to convince others…
One of the reasons assigned is, that the most respectable and best qualified characters among us will not come forward. Easy and happy in their circumstances at home, and believing themselves secure in their liberties and property, they will not forsake them, or their occupations, and engage in the turmoil of public business, or expose themselves to the calumnies of their opponents, whose weapons are detraction.
But at such a crisis as this, when everything dear & valuable to us is assailed… [with] attempts to infringe & trample upon the Constitution with a view to introduce Monarchy… When measures are systematically, and pertinaciously [obstinately] pursued, which must eventually dissolve the Union or produce coercion. I say, when these things have become so obvious, ought characters who are best able to rescue their Country from the pending evil to remain at home? Rather, ought they not to come forward, and by their talents and influence, stand in the breach which such conduct has made on the Peace and happiness of this Country, and oppose the widening of it?
Vain will it be to look for Peace and happiness, or for the security of liberty or property, if Civil discord should ensue; and what else can result from the policy of those among us, who, by all the means in their power, are driving matters to extremity, if they cannot be counteracted effectually? The views of Men can only be known, or guessed at, by their words or actions. Can those of the Leaders of Opposition be mistaken then, if judged by this Rule? That they are followed by numbers who are unacquainted with their designs, and suspect as little, the tendency of their principles…” George Washington, Letter to Patrick Henry, January 15, 1799
“But every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those illustrious heroes and statesmen, who have wrought a revolution in her favor.
A selection of essays, respecting the settlement and geography of America; the history of the late revolution and of the most remarkable characters and events that distinguished it, and a compendium of the principles of the federal and provincial governments, should be the principal school book in the United States. These are interesting objects to every man; they call home the minds of youth and fix them upon the interests of their own country, and they assist in forming attachments to it, as well as in enlarging the understanding.” Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America, 1788
“During the war of the revolution, the clergy were generally friendly to the cause of the country. The present generation can hardly have a tolerable idea of the influence of the New-England clergy, in sustaining the patriotic exertions of the people, under the appalling discouragements of the war. The writer remembers their good offices with gratitude.
Those men therefore who attempt to impair the influence of that respectable order, in this country, attempt to undermine the best supports of religion; and those who destroy the influence and authority of the Christian religion, sap the foundations of public order, of liberty, and of republican government.” Noah Webster, History of the United States, 1832
“There is a great Ardor [enthusiasm] amongst the People this Way [in Philadelphia] in support of American Rights… It is most evident that this Land is under the Protection of the Almighty, and that We shall be Saved, not by our Wisdom nor by our might, but by the Lord of Host who is wonderful in Council and Almighty in all his Operations.” Oliver Wolcott, Letter to Laura Wolcott, April 10, 1776
“Resolved, That we will by all lawful ways and means which Divine Providence hath put into our hands, defend ourselves in the full enjoyment of, and preserve inviolate to posterity, those inestimable privileges [rights] of all free-born British subjects, of being taxed by none but representatives of their own choosing, and of being tried only by a jury of their own peers; for if we quietly submit to the execution of the said Stamp Act, all our claims to civil liberty will be lost, and we and our posterity become absolute slaves.
Resolved, That we will, on any future occasion, sacrifice our lives and fortunes, in concurrence with the other Sons of Liberty in American provinces, to defend and preserve those invaluable blessings transmitted by our ancestors.” Sons of Liberty, Norfolk, VA, March 31,1766
“… a Reverence for our great Creator, Principles of Humanity, and the Dictates of Common Sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the Subject, that Government was instituted to promote the Welfare of Mankind, and ought to be administered for the Attainment of that End… Our Forefathers, Inhabitants of the Island of Great-Britain, left their Native Land, to seek on these Shores a Residence for civil and religious Freedom. At the Expense of their Blood, at the Hazard of their Fortunes, without the least Charge to the Country from which they removed, by unceasing Labor, and an unconquerable Spirit, they effected Settlements in the distant and inhospitable Wilds of America…” Journals of Congress, Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, July 6, 1775
“The moment I heard of America, I loved her; the moment I knew she was fighting for freedom, I burned with a desire of bleeding for her; and the moment I shall be able to serve her at any time, or in any part of the world, will be the happiest one of my life.” Marquis de Lafayette, Letter to Henry Laurens, September 23, 1778
“… America… spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government. America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity. She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, equal justice, and equal rights. She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations, while asserting and maintaining her own. She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when the conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart. She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama, the European World, will be contests between inveterate power, and emerging right.
Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will recommend the general cause, by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself, beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force. The frontlet upon her brows would no longer beam with the ineffable splendor of freedom and independence; but in its stead would soon be substituted an imperial diadem, flashing in false and tarnished lustre the murky radiance of dominion and power. She might become the dictatress of the world: she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.” John Quincy Adams, An Address to the U.S. House of Representatives, July 4, 1821
“It cannot be doubted that, in the United States, the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the support of a democratic republic; and such must always be the case, I believe, where instruction which awakens the understanding is not separated from moral education which amends the heart. But I by no means exaggerate this benefit, and I am still further from thinking, as so many people do think in Europe, that men can be instantaneously made citizens by teaching them to read and write. True information is mainly derived from experience; and if the Americans had not been gradually accustomed to govern themselves, their book-learning would not assist them much at the present day.
“I have lived a great deal with the people in the United States, and I cannot express how much I admire their experience and their good sense. An American should never be allowed to speak of Europe; for he will then probably display a vast deal of presumption and very foolish pride. He will take up with those crude and vague notions which are so useful to the ignorant all over the world. But if you question him respecting his own country, the cloud which dimmed his intelligence will immediately disperse; his language will become as clear and as precise as his thoughts. He will inform you what his rights are, and by what means he exercises them; he will be able to point out the customs which obtain in the political world. You will find that he is well acquainted with the rules of the administration, and that he is familiar with the mechanism of the laws. The citizen of the United States does not acquire his practical science and his positive notions from books; the instruction he has acquired may have prepared him for receiving those ideas, but it did not furnish them. The American learns to know the laws by participating in the act of legislation; and he takes a lesson in the forms of government from governing. The great work of society is ever going on beneath his eyes, and, as it were, under his hands.” Alexis de Tocqueville (French Legal Scholar), Democracy In America, 1835
The American Dream- “It wouldn’t take us long to discover the substance of that dream. It is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, words lifted to cosmic proportions: ‘We hold these truths to self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by [their] Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ This is a dream. It’s a great dream.
The first saying we notice in this dream is an amazing universalism. It doesn’t say ‘some men,’ it says ‘all men.’ It doesn’t say, ‘all white men,’ it says ‘all men,’ which includes black men…
Then that dream goes on to say another thing that ultimately distinguishes our nation and our form of government from any totalitarian system in the world. It says that each of us has certain basic rights that are neither derived from or conferred by the state… They are God-given, gifts from his hands. Never before in the history of the world has a sociopolitical document expressed in such profound, eloquent, and unequivocal language the dignity and the worth of human personality. The American dream reminds us, and we should think about it anew on this Independence Day, that every man is an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth.
… it is marvelous and great that we do have a dream, that we have a nation with a dream… [a] noble capacity for justice and love and brotherhood.
… We have a great dream. It started way back in 1776, and God grant that America will be true to her dream.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., The American Dream, July 4, 1965
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day “Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution.” PUBLIC LAW 108–447, Sec 111, (b), December 8, 2004