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The Protection Of These Faculties Is The First Object Of Government.
-James Madison
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The Protection Of These

James Madison
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The Protection Of These Faculties Is The First Object Of Government.

Understanding the Quote: "the protection of these faculties is the first object of government...."

This quote by James Madison reflects deeply on the theme of government. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Government, Diversity, Politics, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how James Madison interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About James Madison

James Madison is celebrated for insightful thoughts on government and diversity. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Government
Diversity
Politics
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Precedents Once Established Are So Much Positive Power.
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What Prudent Merchant Will Hazard His Fortunes In Any New Branch Of Commerce When He Knows Not That His Plans May Be Rendered Unlawful Before They Can Be Executed?
Hazards
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Reason, On The Contrary, Assures Us, That As In So Great A Number, A Fit Representative Would Be Most Likely To Be Found, So The Choice Would Be Less Likely To Be Diverted From Him, By The Intrigues Of The Ambitious, Or The Bribes Of The Rich.
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We've Staked Our Future On Our Ability To Follow The Ten Commandments With All Our Heart.
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It Is The Duty Of Every Man To Render To The Creator Such Homage...before Any Man Can Be Considered As A Member Of Civil Society, He Must Be Considered As A Subject Of The Governor Of The Universe.
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Every New And Successful Example Of A Perfect Separation Between Ecclesiastical And Civil Matters Is Of Importance.
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If Congress Can Employ Money Indefinitely To The General Welfare... They May Appoint Teachers In Every State... The Powers Of Congress Would Subvert The Very Foundation, The Very Nature Of The Limited Government Established By The People Of America.
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Religion Flourishes In Greater Purity, Without Than With The Aid Of Government.
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Who Are To Be The Objects Of Popular Choice? Every Citizen Whose Merit May Recommend Him To The Esteem And Confidence Of His Country.
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We Have Seen That The Tendency Of Republican Governments Is To An Aggrandizement Of The Legislative At The Expense Of The Other Departments. The Appeals To The People, Therefore, Would Usually Be Made By The Executive And Judiciary Departments.
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... Large And Permanent Military Establishments ... Are Forbidden By The Principles Of Free Government, And Against The Necessity Of Which The Militia Were Meant To Be A Constitutional Bulwark.
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It Is Due To Justice; Due To Humanity; Due To Truth; Due To The Sympathies Of Our Nature; In Fine, To Our Character As A People, Both Abroad And At Home, That They Should Be Considered, As Much As Possible, In The Light Of Human Beings, And Not As Mere Property. As Such, They Are Acted On By Our Laws, And Have An Interest In Our Laws. They May Be Considered As Making A Part, Though A Degraded Part, Of The Families To Which They Belong.
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So Strong Is This Propensity Of Mankind To Fall Into Mutual Animosities, That Where No Substantial Occasion Presents Itself, The Most Frivolous And Fanciful Distinctions Have Been Sufficient To Kindle Their Unfriendly Passions And Excite Their Most Violent Conflicts. But The Most Common And Durable Source Of Factions Has Been The Various And Unequal Distribution Of Property.
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The Accumulation Of All Powers, Legislative, Executive, And Judiciary, In The Same Hands, Whether Of One, A Few, Or Many, And Whether Hereditary, Selfappointed, Or Elective, May Justly Be Pronounced The Very Definition Of Tyranny.
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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, That Their Political Institutionsare As Favorable To The Intellectual And Moral Improvement Of Man As They Are Conformable To His Individual And Social Rights.
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If We Are To Take For The Criterion Of Truth The Majority Of Suffrages, They Ought To Be Gotten From Those Philosophic And Patriotic Citizens Who Cultivate Their Reason.
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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.
Army
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In Time Of Actual War, Great Discretionary Powers Are Constantly Given To The Executive Magistrate. Constant Apprehension Of War, Has The Same Tendency To Render The Head Too Large For The Body. A Standing Military Force, With An Overgrown Executive Will Not Long Be Safe Companions To Liberty.
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When Men Exercise Their Reason Coolly And Freely, On A Variety Of Distinct Questions, They Inevitably Fall Into Different Opinions, On Some Of Them. When They Are Governed By A Common Passion, Their Opinions If They Are So To Be Called, Will Be The Same.
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Every New Regulation Concerning Commerce Or Revenue; Or In Any Manner Affecting The Value Of The Different Species Of Property, Presents A New Harvest To Those Who Watch The Change And Can Trace Its Consequences; A Harvest Reared Not By Themselves But By The Toils And Cares Of The Great Body Of Their Fellow Citizens. This Is A State Of Things In Which It May Be Said With Some Truth That Laws Are Made For The Few Not For The Many.
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The Most That The Convention Could Do In Such A Situation, Was To Avoid The Errors Suggested By The Past Experience Of Other Countries, As Well As Of Our Own; And To Provide A Convenient Mode Of Rectifying Their Own Errors, As Future Experience May Unfold Them.
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How Could A Readiness For War In Time Of Peace Be Safely Prohibited, Unless We Could Prohibit, In Like Manner, The Preparations And Establishments Of Every Hostile Nation? The Means Of Security Can Only Be Regulated By The Means And The Danger Of Attack. They Will, In Fact, Be Ever Determined By These Rules, And By No Others . . . . If One Nation Maintains Constantly A Disciplined Army, Ready For Service Of Ambition Or Revenge, It Obliges The Most Pacific Nations Who May Be Within The Reach Of Its Enterprises To Take Corresponding Precautions.
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What Is Government Itself But The Greatest Of All Reflections On Human Nature?
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Despotism Can Only Exist In Darkness, And There Are Too Many Lights Now In The Political Firmament To Permit It To Remain Anywhere, As It Has Heretofore Done, Almost Everywhere.
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Whenever A Youth Is Ascertained To Possess Talents Meriting An Education Which His Parents Cannot Afford, He Should Be Carried Forward At The Public Expense.
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The Right Of Freely Examining Public Characters And Measures, And Of Free Communication Among The People Thereon . . . Has Ever Been Justly Deemed The Only Effectual Guardian Of Every Other Right.
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Hence It Is That Such Democracies Have Ever Been Spectacles Of Turbulence And Contention; Have Ever Been Found Incompatible With Personal Security Or The Rights Of Property; And Have In General Been As Short In Their Lives As They Have Been Violent In Their Deaths. Theoretic Politicians, Who Have Patronized This Species Of Government, Have Erroneously Supposed That By Reducing Mankind To A Perfect Equality In Their Political Rights, They Would, At The Same Time, Be Perfectly Equalized And Assimilated In Their Possessions, Their Opinions, And Their Passions.
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That Diabolical Hell Conceived Principle Of Persecution Rages Amoung Some And To Their Eternal Infamy The Clergy Can Furnish Their Quota Of Imps For Such Business.
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It Is A Misfortune Incident To Republican Government, Though In A Less Degree Than To Other Governments, That Those Who Administer It, May Forget Their Obligations To Their Constituents, And Prove Unfaithful To Their Important Trust.
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The Inference To Which We Are Brought Is That The Causes Of Faction Cannot Be Removed And That Relief Is Only To Be Sought In The Means Of Controlling Its Effects.
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Inference Is Founded Upon Obvious Reasons. Regard To Reputation Has A Less Active Influence, When The Infamy Of A Bad Action Is To Be Divided Upon A Number, Than When It Is To Fall Singly Upon One. A Spirit Of Faction . . . Will Often Hurry The Persons Of Whom They Were Composed Into Improprieties And Excesses For Which They Would Blush In A Private Capacity.
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The Federal Constitution Forms A Happy Combination In This Respect; The Great And Aggregate Interests Being Referred To The National, The Local And Particular, To The State Legislatures.
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There Is One View Of The Subject Which Ought To Have Its Influence On Those Who Espouse Doctrines Which Strike At The Authoritative Origin And Efficacious Operation Of The Government Of The United States. The Government Of The U.s. Like All Governments Free In Their Principles, Rests On Compact; A Compact, Not Between The Government & The Parties Who Formed & Live Under It; But Among The Parties Themselves, And The Strongest Of Governments Are Those In Which The Compacts Were Most Fairly Formed And Most Faithfully Executed.
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The Number Of Individuals Employed Under The Constitution Of The United States Will Be Much Smaller Than The Number Employed Under The Particular States.
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What Is To Be The Consequence, In Case The Congress Shall Misconstrue This Part [the Necessary And Proper Clause] Of The Constitution And Exercise Powers Not Warranted By Its True Meaning, I Answer The Same As If They Should Misconstrue Or Enlarge Any Other Power Vested In Them . . . The Success Of The Usurpation Will Depend On The Executive And Judiciary Departments, Which Are To Expound And Give Effect To The Legislative Acts; And In A Last Resort A Remedy Must Be Obtained From The People, Who Can By The Elections Of More Faithful Representatives, Annul The Acts Of The Usurpers.
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[r]efusing Or Not Refusing To Execute A Law To Stamp It With Its Final Character . . . Makes The Judiciary Department Paramount In Fact To The Legislature, Which Was Never Intended And Can Never Be Proper.
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[in A Democracy] A Common Passion Or Interest Will, In Almost Every Case , Be Felt By A Majority Of The Whole; A Communication And Concert Results From The Form Of Government Itself; And There Is Nothing To Check The Inducements To Sacrifice The Weaker Party Or An Obnoxious Individual.
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In Contemplating The Pecuniary Resources Needed For The Removal Of Such A Number To So Great A Distance [freed Slaves To Africa], My Thoughts And Hopes Have Long Been Turned To The Rich Fund Presented In The Western Lands Of The Nation . . .
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The Convention Thought It Wrong To Admit In The Constitution The Idea That There Could Be Property In Men.
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In Framing A System, Which We Wish To Last For Ages, We Should Not Lose Sight Of The Changes Which Ages Will Produce.
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The People Are The Only Legitimate Fountain Of Power, And It Is From Them That The Constitutional Charter, Under Which The Several Branches Of Government Hold Their Power, Is Derived.
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The Danger Of Silent Accumulations & Encroachments By Ecclesiastical Bodies Have Not Sufficiently Engaged Attention In The U.s. [...] Besides The Danger Of A Direct Mixture Of Religion & Civil Government, There Is An Evil Which Ought To Be Guarded Against In The Indefinite Accumulation Of Property From The Capacity Of Holding It In Perpetuity By Ecclesiastical Corporations. [...] The Establishment Of The Chaplainship To Congs. Is A Palpable Violation Of Equal Rights, As Well As Of Constitutional Principles.
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Nor Is Any Evidence To Be Found, Either In History Or Human Nature, That Nations Are To Be Bribed Out Of A Spirit Of Encroachment And Aggression, By Humiliations Which Nourish Their Pride, Or By Concessions That Extend Their Resources And Power.
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A President Is Impeachable If He Attempts To Subvert The Constitution.
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I, Sir, Have Always Conceived - I Believe Those Who Proposed The Constitution Conceived,and It Is Still More Fully Known, And More Material To Observe, Those Who Ratified The Constitution Conceived, That This Is Not An Indefinite Government Deriving Its Powers From The General Terms Prefixed To The Specified Powers - But, A Limited Government Tied Down To The Specified Powers, Which Explain And Define The General Terms.
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They Can Make No Law Which Will Not Have Its Full Operation On Themselves And Their Friends, As Well As On The Great Mass Of The Society.
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The Liberal Appropriations Made By The Legislature Of Kentucky For A General System Of Education Cannot Be Too Much Applauded . . . . Learned Institutions Ought To Be The Favorite Objects With Every Free People. They Throw That Light Over The Public Mind Which Is The Best Security Against Crafty And Dangerous Encroachments On The Public Liberty . . . . What Spectacle Can Be More Edifying Or More Seasonable Than That Of Liberty And Learning, Each Leaning On The Other For Their Mutual And Surest Support?
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A Well Regulated Militia, Composed Of The Body Of The People, Trained In Arms, Is The Best Most Natural Defense Of A Free Country.
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The Public Affairs Of The Union Are Spread Throughout A Very Extensive Region, And Are Extremely Diversified By The Local Affairs Connected With Them, And Can With Difficulty Be Learnt In Any Other Place, Than In The Central Councils, To Which A Knowledge Of Them Will Be Brought By The Representatives Of Every Part Of The Empire. Yet Some Knowledge Of The Affairs, And Even Of The Laws Of All The States, Ought To Be Possessed By The Members From Each Of The States.
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Because The Bill Vests In The Said Incorporated Church An Authority To Provide For The Support Of The Poor And The Education Of Poor Children Of The Same, An Authority Which, Being Altogether Superfluous If The Provision Is To Be The Result Of Pious Charity, Would Be A Precedent For Giving To Religious Societies As Such A Legal Agency In Carrying Into Effect A Public And Civil Duty.
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To What Expedient Then Shall We Finally Resort, For Maintaining In Practice The Necessary Partition Of Power Among The Several Departments, As Laid Down In The Constitution? The Only Answer That Can Be Given Is, That As All These Exterior Provisions Are Found To Be Inadequate, The Defect Must Be Supplied, By So Contriving The Interior Structure Of The Government, As That Its Several Constituent Parts May, By Their Mutual Relations, Be The Means Of Keeping Each Other In Their Proper Places.
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As To The Permanent Interest Of Individuals In The Aggregated Interests Of The Community, And In The Proverbial Maxim, That Honesty Is The Best Policy, Present Temptation Is Often Found To Be An Overmatch For Those Considerations.
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We May Be Assured By Past Experience, That Such A Practice [as Some States Charging High Taxes On Goods From Other States] Would Be Introduced By Future Contrivances; And Both By That And A Common Knowledge Of Human Affairs, That It Would Nourish Unceasing Animosities, And Not Improbably Terminate In Serious Interruptions Of The Public Tranquility.
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Experience Assures Us, That The Efficacy Of The Provision Has Been Greatly Over-rated; And That Some More Adequate Defense Is Indispensably Necessary For The More Feeble, Against The More Powerful Members Of The Government.
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There Is Not A More Important And Fundamental Principle In Legislation, Than That The Ways And Means Ought Always To Face The Public Engagements; That Our Appropriations Should Ever Go Hand In Hand With Our Promises. To Say That The United States Should Be Answerable For Twenty-five Millions Of Dollars Without Knowing Whether The Ways And Means Can Be Provided, And Without Knowing Whether Those Who Are To Succeed Us Will Think With Us On The Subject, Would Be Rash And Unjustifiable. Sir, In My Opinion, It Would Be Hazarding The Public Faith In A Manner Contrary To Every Idea Of Prudence.
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[n]o Religious Test Shall Ever Be Required As A Qualification To Any Office Or Public Trust Under The United States.
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Atheist
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The Security Intended To The General Liberty Consists In The Frequent Election And In The Rotation Of The Members Of Congress.
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Liberty
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Wherever The Real Power In A Government Lies, There Is The Danger Of Oppression.
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A Certain Degree Of Preparation For War . . . Affords Also The Best Security For The Continuance Of Peace.
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[christianity] Existed And Flourishes, Not Only Without The Support Of Human Laws, But In Spite Of Every Opposition From Them.
Law
Support
Religion
What Spectacle Can Be More Edifying Or More Seasonable, Than That Of Liberty And Learning, Each Leaning On The Other For Their Mutual And Surest Support?
Education
Support
Liberty
The Eyes Of The World Being Thus On Our Country, It Is Put The More On Its Good Behavior, And Under The Greater Obligation Also, To Do Justice To The Tree Of Liberty By An Exhibition Of The Fine Fruits We Gather From It.
Country
Eye
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Each Generation Should Be Made To Bear The Burden Of Its Own Wars, Instead Of Carrying Them On, At The Expense Of Other Generations.
War
Liberty
Bears
The Ultimate Authority Resides In The People, And That If The Federal Government Got Too Powerful And Overstepped Its Authority, Then The People Would Develop Plans Of Resistance And Resort To Arms.
Powerful
Government
People
Crisis Is The Rallying Cry Of The Tyrant.
Rallying Cry
Tyrants
Presidential
Popular Liberty Might Then Have Escaped The Indelible Reproach Of Decreeing To The Same Citizens, The Hemlock On One Day, And Statues On The Next.
Freedom
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A Distinction Of Property Results From That Very Protection Which A Free Government Gives To Unequal Faculties Of Acquiring It.
Government
Giving
Protection
How A Regulation So Unjust In Itself, So Foreign To The Authority Of Congress, And So Hurtful To The Sale Of Public Land, And Smelling So Strongly Of An Antiquated Bigotry, Could Have Received The Countenance Of A Committee Is Truly A Matter Of Astonishment.
Land
Hurtful
Atheism
Let The Influx Of Money Be Ever So Great, If There Be No Confidence, Property Will Sink In Value... The Circulation Of Confidence Is Better Than The Circulation Of Money.
Circulation
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...several Of The First Presidents, Including Jefferson And Madison, Generally Refused To Issue Public Prayers, Despite Importunings To Do So. Under Pressure, Madison Relented In The War Of 1812, But Held To His Belief That Chaplains Shouldn't Be Appointed To The Military Or Be Allowed To Open Congress.
Prayer
Military
War
Although All Men Are Born Free, Slavery Has Been The General Lot Of The Human Race. Ignorant--they Have Been Cheated; Asleep--they Have Been Surprised; Divided--the Yoke Has Been Forced Upon Them. But What Is The Lesson...? The People Ought To Be Enlightened, To Be Awakened, To Be United, That After Establishing A Government They Should Watch Over It.... It Is Universally Admitted That A Well-instructed People Alone Can Be Permanently Free.
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The Nation Which Reposes On The Pillow Of Political Confidence, Will Sooner Or Later End Its Political Existence In A Deadly Lethargy.
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Liberty Is To Faction, What Air Is To Fire, An Aliment Without Which It Instantly Expires. But It Could Not Be A Less Folly To Abolish Liberty, Which Is Essential To Political Life, Because It Nourishes Faction, Than It Would Be To Wish The Annihilation Of Air, Which Is Essential To Animal Life, Because It Imparts To Fire Its Destructive Agency.
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It Is To The Press Mankind Are Indebted For Having Dispelled The Clouds Which So Long Encompassed Religion, For Disclosing Her Genuine Lustre, And Disseminating Her Salutary Doctrines.
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The Management Of Foreign Relations Appears To Be The Most Susceptible Of Abuse Of All The Trusts Committed To A Government, Because They Can Be Concealed Or Disclosed, Or Disclosed In Such Parts And At Such Times As Will Best Suit Particular Views; And Because The Body Of The People Are Less Capable Of Judging, And Are More Under The Influence Of Prejudices, On That Branch Of Their Affairs, Than Of Any Other. Perhaps It Is A Universal Truth That The Loss Of Liberty At Home Is To Be Charged To Provisions Against Danger, Real Or Pretended, From Abroad.
Real
Home
Loss
The Genius Of Republican Liberty, Seems To Demand On One Side, Not Only That All Power Should Be Derived From The People; But, That Those Entrusted With It Should Be Kept In Dependence On The People, By A Short Duration Of Their Appointments; And, That, Even During This Short Period, The Trust Should Be Placed Not In A Few, But In A Number Of Hands.
Hands
Republican Government
Numbers
It Is In Vain To Oppose Constitutional Barriers To The Impulse Of Self-preservation. It Is Worse Than In Vain; Because It Plants In The Constitution Itself Necessary Usurpations Of Power, Every Precedent Of Which Is A Germ Of Unnecessary And Multiplied Repetitions.
Self
Germs
Constitution
A Bad Cause Seldom Fails To Betray Itself.
Causes
Failing
Betray
I Flatter Myself [we] Have In This Country Extinguished Forever The Ambitious Hope Of Making Laws For The Human Mind.
Country
Law
Forever
If Men Were Angels, There Would Be No Need Of Government.
Angel
Men
Would Be
The Settled Opinion Here Is That Religion Is Essentially Distinct From Civil Govt. And Exempt From Its Cognizance; That A Connection Between Them Is Injurious To Both.
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Atheism
Connections
The People Shall Not Be Deprived Or Abridged Of Their Right To Speak, Or To Publish Their Sentiments; And The Freedom Of The Press, As One Of The Great Bulwarks Of Liberty, Shall Be Inviolable.
People
President
Liberty
Attempts To Enforce By Legal Sanctions, Acts Obnoxious To So Great A Proportion Of Citizens, Tend To Enervate The Laws In General, And To Slacken The Bands Of Society. If It Be Difficult To Execute Any Law Which Is Not Generally Deemed Necessary Or Salutary, What Must Be The Case, Where It Is Deemed Invalid And Dangerous? And What May Be The Effect Of So Striking An Example Of Impotency In The Government, On Its General Authority?
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Law
May
Before Any Man Can Be Considered As A Member Of Civil Society, He Must Be Considered As A Subject Of The Governour Of The Universe: And If A Member Of Civil Society, Do It With A Saving Of His Allegiance To The Universal Sovereign. We Maintain Therefore That In Matters Of Religion, No Man's Right Is Abridged By The Institution Of Civil Society And That Religion Is Wholly Exempt From Its Cognizance.
Men
Saving
Matter
The Operations Of The Federal Government Will Be Most Extensive And Important In Times Of War And Danger; Those Of The State Governments, In Times Of Peace And Security.
War
Government
Important
That The Foundation Of Our National Policy Should Be Laid In Private Morality. If Individuals Be Not Influenced By Moral Principles, It Is In Vain To Look For Public Virtue; It Is, Therefore, The Duty Of Legislators To Enforce, Both By Precept And Example, The Utility, As Well As The Necessity, Of A Strict Adherence To The Rules Of Distributive Justice.
Justice
Voting
Foundation
The First Question That Offers Itself Is, Whether The General Form And Aspect Of The Government Be Strictly Republican? It Is Evident That No Other Form Would Be Reconcileable With The Genius Of The People Of America; With The Fundamental Principles Of The Revolution; Or With That Honourable Determination Which Animates Every Votary Of Freedom, To Rest All Our Political Experiments On The Capacity Of Mankind For Self-government.
Determination
Government
Self
A Standing Army Is One Of The Greatest Mischief That Can Possibly Happen.
Military
Army
Mischief
If The Public Homage Of A People Can Ever Be Worthy Of The Favorable Regard Of The Holy And Omniscient Being To Whom It Is Addressed, It Must Be That In Which Those Who Join In It Are Guided Only Be Their Free Choice-by The Impulse Of Their Hearts And The Dictates Of Their Consciences.
Heart
People
Choices
It May Be Concluded That A Pure Democracy . . . Can Admit No Cure For The Mischiefs Of Faction.
Democracies Have
Democracy
May
The General Government Is Proscribed From The Interfering, In Any Manner Whatsoever, In Matters Respecting Religion; And It May Be Thought To Do This, In Ascertaining Who, And Who Are Not, Ministers Of The Gospel.
Government
Atheism
May
[y]ou Will Understand The Game Behind The Curtain Too Well Not To Perceive The Old Trick Of Turning Every Contingency Into A Resource For Accumulating Force In The Government.
Government
Games
Resources
As A Man Is Said To Have A Right To His Property, He May Be Equally Said To Have A Property In His Rights.
Men
Rights
Liberty
Is It Not The Glory Of The People Of America, That Whilst They Have Paid A Decent Regard To The Opinions Of Former Times And Other Nations, They Have Not Suffered A Blind Veneration For Antiquity, For Custom, Or For Names, To Overrule The Suggestions Of Their Own Good Sense, The Knowledge Of Their Own Situation, And The Lessons Of Their Own Experience? To This Manly Spirit, Posterity Will Be Indebted For The Possession, And The World For The Example Of The Numerous Innovations Displayed On The American Theatre, In Favor Of Private Rights And Public Happiness.
Rights
Names
America
[the Public Has] The Habit Now Of Invalidating Opinions Emanating From Me By Reference To My Age And Infirmities.
Age
Opinion
Habit
A Universal Peace, It Is To Be Feared, Is In The Catalogue Of Events, Which Will Never Exist But In The Imaginations Of Visionary Philosophers, Or In The Breasts Of Benevolent Enthusiasts.
Imagination
Events
Visionaries
I Believe There Are More Instances Of The Abridgement Of Freedom Of The People By Gradual And Silent Encroachments By Those In Power Than By Violent And Sudden Usurpations.
Freedom
Believe
Power
Some Degree Of Abuse Is Inseparable From The Proper Use Of Everything.
Abuse
Degrees
Use
If Men Were Angels, No Government Would Be Necessary.
Adversity
Angel
Men
Each State, In Ratifying The Constitution, Is Considered As A Sovereign Body, Independent Of All Others, And Only To Be Bound By Its Own Voluntary Act. In This Relation, Then, The New Constitution Will, If Established, Be A Federal, And Not A National Constitution.
Wisdom
Independent
America
For The Same Reason That The Members Of The State Legislatures Will Be Unlikely To Attach Themselves Sufficiently To National Objects, The Members Of The Federal Legislature Will Be Likely To Attach Themselves Too Much To Local Objects.
Too Much
Reason
Members
Whilst The Last Members Were Signing It Doctr. Franklin Looking Towards The Presidents Chair, At The Back Of Which A Rising Sun Happened To Be Painted, Observed To A Few Members Near Him, That Painters Had Found It Difficult To Distinguish In Their Art A Rising From A Setting Sun.
Art
President
Constitution Of The United States
It Is Vain To Say That Enlightened Statesmen Will Always Be Able To Adjust Their Interests. Enlightened Men Will Not Always Be At The Helm.
Men
Able
Enlightened
No Man Is Allowed To Be A Judge In His Own Cause; Because His Interest Would Certainly Bias His Judgment, And, Not Improbably, Corrupt His Integrity. With Equal, Nay With Greater Reason, A Body Of Men Are Unfit To Be Both Judges And Parties At The Same Time.
Religious
Party
Men
And I Have No Doubt That Every New Example Will Succeed, As Every Past One Has Done, In Showing That Religion And Government Will Both Exist In Greater Purity, The Less They Are Mixed Together.
Past
Government
Doubt
The Definition Of The Right Of Suffrage Is Very Justly Regarded As A Fundamental Article Of Republican Government.
Rights
Government
Fundamentals
The Truth Was That All Men Having Power Ought To Be Distrusted To A Certain Degree.
Truth
Men
Presidential
When Indeed Religion Is Kindled Into Enthusiasm, Its Force Like That Of Other Passions Is Increased By The Sympathy Of A Multitude. But Enthusiasm Is Only A Temporary State Of Religion, And Whilst It Lasts Will Hardly Be Seen With Pleasure At The Helm. Even In Its Coolest State, It Has Been Much Oftener A Motive To Oppression Than A Restraint From It.
Passion
Religion
Atheism
The Number, The Industry, And The Morality Of The Priesthood, And The Devotion Of The People Have Been Manifestly Increased By The Total Separation Of The Church From The State.
Numbers
People
Religion
In Order To Judge Of The Form To Be Given To This Institution The Senate, It Will Be Proper To Take A View Of The Ends To Be Served By It. These Were,first, To Protect The People Against Their Rulers, Secondly, To Protect The People Against The Transient Impressions Into Which They Themselves Might Be Led.
Views
Order
People
Power Is Of An Encroaching Nature.
Church
States
The Means Of Defense Against Foreign Danger Historically Have Become The Instruments Of Tyranny At Home.
Freedom
War
Mean
The Executive Has No Right, In Any Case, To Decide The Question, Whether There Is Or Is Not Cause For Declaring War.
War
Liberty
Tyranny Founding Fathers
To Refer The Power In Question To The Clause "to Provide For The Common Defense And General Welfare" Would Be Contrary To The Established And Consistent Rules Of Interpretation, As Rendering The Special And Careful Enumeration Of Powers Which Follow The Clause Nugatory And Improper. Such A View Of The Constitution Would Have The Effect Of Giving To Congress A General Power Of Legislation Instead Of The Defined And Limited One Hitherto Understood To Belong To Them, The Terms "common Defense And General Welfare" Embracing Every Object And Act Within The Purview Of A Legislative Trust.
Views
Giving
Special
If Men Were Angels, No Government Would Be Necessary. If Angels Were To Govern Men, Neither External Nor Internal Controls On Government Would Be Necessary. In Framing A Government Which Is To Be Administered By Men Over Men, The Great Difficulty Lies In This: You Must First Enable The Government To Control The Governed; And In The Next Place Oblige It To Control Itself. A Dependence On The People Is, No Doubt, The Primary Control On The Government; But Experience Has Taught Mankind The Necessity Of Auxiliary Precautions.
Lying
Angel
Men
Disarm The People- That Is The Best And Most Effective Way To Enslave Them.
Gun
People
Way
As The People Are The Only Legitimate Fountain Of Power, And It Is From Them That The Constitutional Charter, Under Which The Several Branches Of Government Hold Their Power, Is Derived, It Seems Strictly Consonant To The Republican Theory, To Recur To The Same Original Authority, Not Only Whenever It May Be Necessary To Enlarge, Diminish, Or New-model The Powers Of The Government, But Also Whenever Any One Of The Departments May Commit Encroachments On The Chartered Authorities Of The Others.
Government
People
Branches
Let Me Recommend The Best Medicine In The World: A Long Journey, At A Mild Season, Through A Pleasant Country, In Easy Stages.
Country
Journey
Medicine
[t]he Great Security Against A Gradual Concentration Of The Several Powers In The Same Department Consists In Giving To Those Who Administer Each Department The Necessary Constitutional Means And Personal Motives To Resist Encroachment Of The Others.
Mean
Giving
Separation
Of All The Objections Which Have Been Framed Against The Federal Constitution, This Is Perhaps The Most Extraordinary. Whilst The Objection Itself Is Levelled Against A Pretended Oligarchy, The Principle Of It Strikes At The Very Root Of Republican Government.
Government
Roots
Principles
[property] Embraces Everything To Which A Man May Attach A Value And Have A Right.
Men
May
Embrace
War Should Only Be Declared By The Authority Of The People, Whose Toils And Treasures Are To Support Its Burdens, Instead Of The Government Which Is To Reap Its Fruits.
Peace
War
Government
In Suits At Common Law, Trial By Jury In Civil Cases Is As Essential To Secure The Liberty Of The People As Any One Of The Pre-existent Rights Of Nature.
Rights
Law
People
If The People Are To Be Our Governors, They Must Arm Themselves With Knowledge.
People
Arms
Governors
Learned Institutions Ought To Be Favorite Objects With Every Free People. They Throw That Light Over The Public Mind Which Is The Best Security Against Crafty And Dangerous Encroachments On The Public Liberty.
Education
Light
People
The Preservation Of A Free Government Requires Not Merely That The Metes And Bounds Which Separate Each Department Of Power Be Invariably Maintained; But More Especially That Neither Of Them Be Suffered To Overleap The Great Barrier Which Defends The Rights Of The People. The Rulers Who Are Guilty Of Such An Encroachment, Exceed The Commission From Which They Derive Their Authority And Are Tyrants. The People Who Submit To It Are Governed By Laws Made Neither By Themselves Nor By An Authority Derived From Them, And Are Slaves.
Rights
Government
Law
The Purpose Of Separation Of Church And State Is To Keep Forever From These Shores The Ceaseless Strife That Has Soaked The Soil Of Europe With Blood For Centuries.
Patriotic
Blood
Europe
With Regard To Banks, They Have Taken Too Deep And Too Wide A Root In Social Transactions, To Be Got Rid Of Altogether, If That Were Desirable. They Have A Hold On Public Opinion, Which Alone Would Make It Expedient To Aim Rather At The Improvement, Than The Suppression Of Them. As Now Generally Constituted, Their Advantages Whatever They Be, Are Outweighed By The Excesses Of Their Paper Emissions, And The Partialities And Corruption With Which They Are Administered.
Taken
Roots
Public Opinion
I Go On The Principle That A Public Debt Is A Public Curse And In A Republican Government More Than In Any Other.
Government
Principles
Debt
The Regulation Of These Various And Interfering Interests Forms The Principal Task Of Modern Legislation And Involves The Spirit Of Party And Faction In The Necessary And Ordinary Operations Of Government.
Party
Government
Regulation
I Believe There Are More Instances Of The Abridgment Of The Freedom Of The People By Gradual And Silent Encroachments Of Those In Power, Than By Violent And Sudden Usurpations; But, On A Candid Examination Of History, We Shall Find That Turbulence, Violence, And Abuse Of Power, By The Majority Trampling On The Rights Of The Minority, Have Produced Factions And Commotions, Which, In Republics, Have, More Frequently Than Any Other Cause, Produced Despotism.
Believe
Rights
Government
What A Perversion Of The Normal Order Of Things! ... To Make Power The Primary And Central Object Of The Social System, And Liberty But Its Satellite.
Order
Liberty
Normal
We Have The Self-evident Right To Regulate Our Trade According To Our Own Will And Our Own Interest . . . . This Right Can Be Denied To No Independent Nation.
Independent
Self
Interest
Strongly Guarded As Is The Separation Between Religion And Government In The Constitution Of The United States, The Danger Of Encroachment By Ecclesiastical Bodies May Be Illustrated By Precedents Already Furnished In Their Short History.
Government
Religion
Atheism
In A Free Government, The Security For Civil Rights Must Be The Same As That For Religious Rights. It Consists In The One Case In The Multiplicity Of Interests, And In The Other In The Multiplicity Of Sects. The Degree Of Security In Both Cases, Will Depend On The Number Of Interests And Sects; And This May Be Presumed To Depend On The Extent Of Country And Number Of People Comprehended Under The Same Government.
Country
Religious
Rights
[the Human Mind] Finds More Facility In Assenting To The Self-existence Of An Invisible Cause Possessing Infinite Power, Wisdom, And Goodness, Than In The Self-existence Of The Universe, Visibly Destitute Of These Attributes, And Which May Be The Effect Of Them.
Self
Mind
Religion
That Is Not A Just Government Where Arbitrary Restrictions, Exemptions, And Monopolies Deny To Part Of Its Citizens That Free Use Of Their Faculties, And Free Choice Of Their Occupations.
Government
Choices
Citizens
Every Word Of [the Constitution] Decides A Question Between Power And Liberty.
Liberty
...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 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.
Military
Army
Gun
In War, Too, The Discretionary Power Of The Executive Is Extended; Its Influence In Dealing Out Offices, Honors, And Emoluments Is Multiplied; And All The Meaning Of Seducing The Minds, Are Added To Those Of Subduing The Force, Of The People. The Same Malignant Aspect In Republicanism May Be Traced In The Inequality Of Fortunes, And The Opportunities Of Fraud, Growing Out Of A State Of War, And In The Degeneracy Of Manners And Morals, Engendered By Both. No Nation Could Preserve Its Freedom In The Midst Of Continual Warfare.
War
Opportunity
Office
It Is Too Early For Politicians To Presume On Our Forgetting That The Public Good, The Real Welfare Of The Great Body Of The People, Is The Supreme Object To Be Pursued; And That No Form Of Government Whatever Has Any Other Value Than As It May Be Fitted For The Attainment Of This Object.
Real
Government
People
The Advice Nearest To My Heart And Deepest In My Convictions Is That The Union Of The States Be Cherished And Perpetuated. Let The Open Enemy To It Be Regarded As A Pandora With Her Box Opened, And The Disguised One As The Serpent Creeping With His Deadly Wiles Into Paradise.
Heart
Advice
Enemy
The Right Of The Citizens To Bear Arms In Defense Of Themselves And The State Shall Not Be Questioned.
Bears
Defense
Citizens
Truth [comes Only] From Those ... Who Cultivate Their Reason.
Reason
Democracies Have Been Found Incompatible With Personal Security Or The Rights Of Property; And In General Been As Short In Their Lives As They Have Been Violent In Their Death.
Freedom
Democracies Have
Rights
A Man Has A Property In His Opinions And The Free Communication Of Them.
Communication
Men
Liberty
I Own Myself The Friend To A Very Free System Of Commerce, And Hold It As A Truth, That Commercial Shackles Are Generally Unjust, Oppressive And Impolitic - It Is Also A Truth, That If Industry And Labour Are Left To Take Their Own Course, They Will Generally Be Directed To Those Objects Which Are The Most Productive, And This In A More Certain And Direct Manner Than The Wisdom Of The Most Enlightened Legislature Could Point Out.
Unjust
Enlightened
Legislature
I Consider The Difference Between A System Founded On The Legislatures Only, And One Founded On The People, To Be The True Difference Between A League Or Treaty And A Constitution.
Differences
People
League
[in The Case Of] Dangerous Exercise Of Other Powers, Not Granted By The Said Compact, The States, Who Are Parties Thereto, Have The Right, And Are Duty Bound, To Interpose For Arresting The Progress Of The Evil.
Party
Exercise
Evil
One Nation Is To Another What One Individual Is To Another; With This Melancholy Distinction Perhaps, That The Former With Fewer Of The Benevolent Emotions Than The Latter, Are Under Fewer Restraints Also From Taking Undue Advantage Of The Indiscretions Of Each Other.
Emotion
Melancholy
Individual
[t]he Powers Granted By The Proposed Constitution Are The Gift Of The People, And May Be Resumed By Them When Perverted To Their Oppression, And Every Power Not Granted Thereby Remains With The People.
People
May
Constitution
Whilst We Assert For Ourselves A Freedom To Embrace, To Profess And Observe The Religion Which We Believe To Be Of Divine Origin, We Cannot Deny Equal Freedom To Those Whose Minds Have Not Yet Yielded To The Evidence Which Has Convinced Us. If This Freedom Be Abused, It Is An Offense Against God, Not Against Man:to God, Therefore, Not To Man, Must An Account Of It Be Rendered.
Believe
Men
Mind
The Belief In A God All Powerful Wise And Good, Is So Essential To The Moral Order Of The World And To The Happiness Of Man, That Arguments Which Enforce It Cannot Be Drawn From Too Many Sources Nor Adapted With Too Much Solicitude To The Different Characters And Capacities Impressed With It.
God
Wise
Powerful
The Proposed Constitution, Therefore, Even When Tested By The Rules Laid Down By Its Antagonists, Is, In Strictness, Neither A National Nor A Federal Constitution; But A Composition Of Both. In Its Foundation It Is Federal, Not National; In The Sources From Which The Ordinary Powers Of The Government Are Drawn, It Is Partly Federal, And Partly National; In The Operation Of These Powers, It Is National, Not Federal; In The Extent Of Them Again, It Is Federal, Not National; And Finally, In The Authoritative Mode Of Introducing Amendments, It Is Neither Wholly Federal, Nor Wholly National.
Government
Foundation
Ordinary
[a]s It Must Be Admitted That The Remedy Under The Constitution Lies Where It Has Been Marked Out By The Constitution; And That No Appeal Can Be Consistently Made From That Remedy By Those Who Were And Still Profess To Be Parties To It, But The Appeal To The Parties Themselves Having An Authority Above The Constitution Or To The Law Of Nature & Of Nature's God.
Lying
Party
Law
Because Finally, 'the Equal Right Of Every Citizen To The Free Exercise Of His Religion According To The Dictates Of Conscience' Is Held By The Same Tenure With All His Other Rights. If We Recur To Its Origin, It Is Equally The Gift Of Nature; If We Weigh Its Importance, It Cannot Be Less Dear To Us; If We Consider The 'declaration Of Those Rights Which Pertain To The Good People Of Virginia, As The Basis And Foundation Of Government,' It Is Enumerated With Equal Solemnity, Or Rather Studied Emphasis.
Exercise
Rights
Government
The Problem To Be Solved Is, Not What Form Of Government Is Perfect, But Which Of The Forms Is Least Imperfect.
Government
Perfect
Presidential
Where A Majority Are United By A Common Sentiment, And Have An Opportunity, The Rights Of The Minor Party Become Insecure.
Party
Insecure
Opportunity
[the Proposed Establishment] Will Have A . . . Tendency To Banish Our Citizens. . . . To Superadd A Fresh Motive To Emigration By Revoking The Liberty Which They Now Enjoy, Would Be The Same Species Of Folly Which Has Dishonoured And Depopulated Flourishing Kingdoms.
Church
Liberty
Would Be
Procrastination In The Beginning And Precipitation Towards The Conclusion Is The Characteristic Of Such Bodies.
Procrastination
Body
Characteristics
Justice Is The End Of Government. It Is The End Of Civil Society. It Ever Has Been And Ever Will Be Pursued Until It Be Obtained, Or Until Liberty Be Lost In The Pursuit.
Government
Justice
Voting
Democracy Is The Most Vile Form Of Government.
Government
Democracy
Form
To Provide Employment For The Poor, And Support For The Indigent, Is Among The Primary, And, At The Same Time, Not Least Difficult Cares Of The Public Authority.
Support
Employment
Care
The Very Definition Of Tyranny Is When All Powers Are Gathered Under One Place.
Definitions
Tyranny
With Respect To The Words "general Welfare," I Have Always Regarded Them As Qualified By The Detail Of Powers Connected With Them. To Take Them In A Literal And Unlimited Sense Would Be A Metamorphosis Of The Constitution Into A Character Which There Is A Host Of Proofs Was Not Contemplated By Its Creators.
Character
Government
Liberty
America Was Indebted To Immigration For Her Settlement And Prosperity. That Part Of America Which Had Encouraged Them Most Had Advanced Most Rapidly In Population, Agriculture And The Arts.
Art
Agriculture
America
Democracy Was The Right Of The People To Choose Their Own Tyrant.
Tyrants
People
Democracy
The Great Desideratum In Government Is, So To Modify The Sovereignty As That It May Be Sufficiently Neutral Between Different Parts Of The Society To Controul One Part From Invading The Rights Of Another, And At The Same Time Sufficiently Controuled Itself, From Setting Up An Interest Adverse To That Of The Entire Society.
Rights
Government
Different
As Compacts, Charters Of Government Are Superior In Obligation To All Others, Because They Give Effect To All Others. As Truths, None Can Be More Sacred, Because They Are Bound, On The Conscience By The Religious Sanctions Of An Oath. As Metes And Bounds Of Government, They Transcend All Other Land-marks, Because Every Public Usurpation Is An Encroachment On The Private Right, Not Of One, But Of All.
Religious
Land
Government
Our Opinions Agree As To The Evil, Moral, Political, And Economical, Of Slavery.
Evil
Political
Slavery
Frequent Elections Are Unquestionably The Only Policy By Which This Dependence And Sympathy Can Be Effectually Secured. But What Particular Degree Of Frequency May Be Absolutely Necessary For The Purpose, Does Not Appear To Be Susceptible Of Any Precise Calculation; And Must Depend On A Variety Of Circumstances With Which It May Be Connected. Let Us Consult Experience, The Guide That Ought Always To Be Followed, Whenever It Can Be Found.
Government
Degrees
Doe
The Purpose Of The Constitution Is To Restrict The Majority's Ability To Harm A Minority.
Majority
Minorities
Purpose
It Is The Mutual Duty Of All To Practice Christian Forbearance, Love, And Charity Toward Each Other.
Christian
Practice
Charity
That Useful Alterations Will Be Suggested By Experience, Could Not But Be Foreseen . . . . It Moreover Equally Enables The General And State Governments To Originate The Amendment Of Errors As They May Be Pointed Out By The Experience On One Side Or On The Other.
Errors
Government
Sides
And May I Not Be Allowed To ... Read In The Character Of The American People, In Their Devotion To True Liberty And To The Constitution Which Is Its Palladium [protection], ... A Government Which Watches Over ... The Equal Interdict [prohibition] Against Encroachments And Compacts Between Religion And The State.
Character
Government
People
No Free Country Has Ever Been Without Parties, Which Are A Natural Offspring Of Freedom.
Country
Freedom
Party
There Is A Degree Of Depravity In Mankind Which Requires A Certain Degree Of Circumspection And Distrust.
Voting
Degrees
Depravity
The Effect Of A Representative Democracy Is To Refine And Enlarge The Public Views, By Passing Them Through The Medium Of A Chosen Body Of Citizens, Whose Wisdom May Best Discern The True Interest Of The Nation.
Views
Democracy
Citizens
The Alien Bill Proposed In The Senate Is A Monster That Must Forever Disgrace Its Parents.
Parent
Forever
Monsters
In A Society Under The Forms Of Which The Stronger Faction Can Readily Unite And Oppress The Weaker, Anarchy May As Truly Be Said To Reign As In A State Of Nature.
Stronger
Tyranny Of The Majority
May
The House Of Representatives ... Can Make No Law, Which Will Not Have Its Full Operation On Themselves And Their Friends, As Well As The Great Mass Of Society. This Has Always Been Deemed One Of The Strongest Bonds By Which Human Policy Can Connect The Rulers And The People Together. It Creates Between Them That Communion Of Interest, And Sympathy Of Sentiments, Of Which Few Governments Have Furnished Examples; But Without Which Every Government Degenerates Into Tyranny.
Government
Law
People
Religious Bondage Shackles And Debilitates The Mind And Unfits It For Every Noble Enterprise, Every Expanded Prospect.
Religious
Atheist
Secular Society
If Man Is Not Fit To Govern Himself, How Can He Be Fit To Govern Someone Else?
Men
Fit
Ifs
A Victorious And Powerful Ally Is But Another Name For A Master.
Powerful
Government
Names
No Distinction Seems To Be More Obvious Than That Between Spiritual And Temporal Matters. Yet Whenever They Have Been Made Objects Of Legislation, They Have Clashed And Contended With Each Other, Till One Or The Other Has Gained The Supremacy.
Spiritual
Religion
Matter
On Any Other Hypothesis, The Delegation Of Judicial Power Would Annul The Authority Delegating It; And The Concurrence Of This Department With The Others In Usurped Powers, Might Subvert Forever, And Beyond The Possible Reach Of Any Rightful Remedy, The Very Constitution Which All Were Instituted To Preserve.
Forever
Judicial Power
Might
The Ultimate Authority, Wherever The Derivative May Be Found, Resides In The People Alone, And That It Will Not Depend Merely On The Comparative Ambition Or Address Of The Different Governments, Whether Either, Or Which Of Them, Will Be Able To Enlarge Its Sphere Of Jurisdiction At The Expense Of The Other.
Freedom
Gun
Democracies Have
Experience Has Instructed Us That No Skill In The Science Of Government Has Yet Been Able To Discriminate And Define, With Sufficient Certainty, Its Three Great Provinces The Legislative, Executive, And Judiciary; Or Even The Privileges And Powers Of The Different Legislative Branches.
Government
Skills
Different
But The Mild Voice Of Reason, Pleading The Cause Of An Enlarged And Permanent Interest, Is But Too Often Drowned, Before Public Bodies As Well As Individuals, By The Clamors Of An Impatient Avidity For Immediate And Immoderate Gain.
Voice
People
Body
The Power Of Taxing People And Their Property Is Essential To The Very Existence Of Government.
Government
People
Essentials
We Are Teaching The World The Great Truth That Governments Do Better Without Kings & Nobles Than With Them.
Kings
Teaching
Government
The Great Objects Which Presented Themselves [to The Constitutional Convention] ... Formed A Task More Difficult Than Can Be Well Conceived By Those Who Were Not Concerned In The Execution Of It. Adding To These Considerations The Natural Diversity Of Human Opinions On All New And Complicated Subjects, It Is Impossible To Consider The Degree Of Concord Which Ultimately Prevailed As Less Than A Miracle.
Diversity
Miracle
Degrees
It Has Been Said That All Government Is An Evil. It Would Be More Proper To Say That The Necessity Of Any Government Is A Misfortune. This Necessity However Exists; And The Problem To Be Solved Is, Not What Form Of Government Is Perfect, But Which Of The Forms Is Least Imperfect.
Government
Evil
Perfect
Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting An Establishment Of Religion, Or Prohibiting The Free Exercise Thereof.
Exercise
Secular Society
Law
Stability In Government Is Essential To National Character And To The Advantages Annexed To It, As Well As To That Repose And Confidence In The Minds Of The People, Which Are Among The Chief Blessings Of Civil Society.
Character
Patriotic
Blessing
I Have Ever Regarded The Freedom Of Religious Opinions And Worship As Equally Belonging To Every Sect.
Religious
Atheism
Opinion
The Better Proof Of Reverence For That Holy Name Would Be Not To Profane It By Making It A Topic Of Legislative Discussion.
Names
Would Be
Topics
The Essence Of Government Is Power; And Power, Lodged As It Must Be In Human Hands, Will Ever Be Liable To Abuse.
Power
Hands
Essence
Congress Shall Never Disarm Any Citizen Unless Such As Are Or Have Been In Actual Rebellion.
Citizens
Rebellion
Congress
The Constitution Proposed By The Convention May Be Considered Under Two General Points Of View. The First Relates To The Sum Or Quantity Of Power Which It Vests In The Government, Including The Restraints Imposed On The States. The Second, To The Particular Structure Of The Government, And The Distribution Of This Power Among Its Branches.
Government
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