Ben Franklin: “…There are Two Passions Which have a Powerful Influence in the Affairs of Men – the Love of Power and the Love of Money.”
Ben Franklin address at the Constitutional Convention titled “Dangers of a Salaried Bureaucracy,” June 2, 1787: "It is with reluctance that I rise to express a disapprobation of any one article of the plan for which we are so much obliged to the honorable gentlemen who laid it before us. From its first reading I have borne a good will to it, and, in general, wished it success. In this particular of salaries to the executive branch, I happen to differ; and, as my opinion may appear new and chimerical, it is only from a persuasion that it is ...
Samuel Adams: “While the People are Virtuous They Cannot be Subdued; but Once They Lose Their Virtue They Will be Ready to Surrender Their Liberties”
Samuel Adams, in a letter to James Warren: A general dissolution of principles and 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 once they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader ...
Gen. Washington: “To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian.”
General Washington wrote at Valley Forge, May 2, 1778: “To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian.” ...
John Adams: “Posterity! You Will Never Know, How Much it Cost the Present Generation, to Preserve Your Freedom! I Hope You Will Make a Good Use of It.”
Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, Saturday Evening 26 April 1777 I have been lately more remiss, than usual in Writing to you. There has been a great Dearth of News. Nothing from England, nothing from France, Spain, or any other Part of Europe, nothing from the West Indies. Nothing from Howe, and his Banditti, nothing from General Washington. There are various Conjectures that Lord How is dead, sick, or gone to England, as the Proclamations run in the Name of Will. Howe only, and nobody from New York can tell any Thing of his Lordship. I am wearied ...
GW: “The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier…”
When the Declaration of Independence was written, a copy was rushed out to Washington, who was fortifying New York City. He had it read to his troops, then ordered chaplains placed in each regiment, stating July 9, 1776: “The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country.” ...
General Washington to his Army: “Let us rely upon the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being in whose hands victory is…”
On July 2, 1776, from his headquarters in New York, General Washington issued his general orders: “The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us ...
John Adams: “…It is Religion and Morality Alone, Which can Establish the Principles upon which Freedom can Securely Stand.”
Letter to Zabdiel Adams (21 June 1776) My dear Sir, Philadelphia June 21.1776 Your Favour of the Ninth of this Month was delivered to me,(1) Yesterday by Mr. Whitney, whose Health I hope will be fully restored by the Small Pox for which he was innoculated the day before. Your Letter, Sir, gave me great Pleasure and deserves my most hearty Thanks. I am fully with you in Sentiment, that altho the Authority of the Congress founded as it has been, in Reason, Honour, and the Love of Liberty, has been sufficient to govern the Colonies, in a tolerable ...
Thomas Jefferson: “We are Reduced to the Alternative of Choosing an Unconditional Submission to Tyranny, or Resistance by Force. The Latter is our Choice!”
The Continental Congress issued A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms. This was written by Thomas Jefferson and Pennsylvania lawyer John Dickinson. In response to England sending soldiers to "restore order" in the colonies, Jefferson wrote: We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force.—The latter is our choice—We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery… —Honour, justice, and humanity, ...
Patrick Henry Gives his ‘Give me Liberty, or Give me Death’ Speech
On March 23, 1775, less than a month before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Patrick Henry addressed the House of Burgesses in Richmond, Virginia. He gave a speech that has been remembered popularly as the “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. Although Henry’s discourse was not recorded at the time (partially because Henry delivered it extemporaneously), Henry’s biographer, William Wirt, later gathered testimony from people who had heard him speak. Through their accounts, Wirt reconstructed what Henry spoke that day. The motivation behind the speech was to incite the determination of the Virginia House members to ...
Quote: “When an Army is Sent to Enforce Laws, it is Always an Evidence that… they are Oppressive”
A South Carolina newspaper essay, reprinted in Virginia, urged that any law that had to be enforced by the military was necessarily illegitimate: When an Army is sent to enforce Laws, it is always an Evidence that either the Law makers are conscious that they had no clear and indisputable right to make those Laws, or that they are bad [and] oppressive. Wherever the People themselves have had a hand in making Laws, according to the first principles of our Constitution there is no danger of Nonsubmission, Nor can there be need of an Army to enforce them. William ...
