Alexander Hamilton

"The instruments, by which [government] must act, are either the AUTHORITY of the Laws or FORCE. If the first be destroyed, the last must be substituted; ... and where this becomes the ordinary instrument of government, there is an end to LIBERTY."

--Alexander Hamilton

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Benjamin Rush

"[W]here there is no law, there is no liberty; and nothing deserves the name of law but that which is certain and universal in its operation upon all the members of the community."

--Benjamin Rush, letter to David Ramsay, 1788

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John Adams

"Men must be ready, they must pride themselves and be happy to sacrifice their private pleasures, passions and interests, nay, their private friendships and dearest connections, when they stand in competition with the rights of society."

--John Adams, letter to Mercy Warren, 1776

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George Washington

"The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people."

--George Washington, First Inaugural Address, 1789

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Thomas Jefferson

"The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them."

--Thomas Jefferson, Rights of British America, 1774

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Benjamin Franklin

"Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

--Benjamin Franklin, letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789

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Thomas Jefferson

"I had always hoped that the younger generation receiving their early impressions after the flame of liberty had been kindled in every breast ... would have sympathized with oppression wherever found, and proved their love of liberty beyond their own share of it."

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Coles, 1814

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Joseph Story

"Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them."

--Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

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Alexander Hamilton

"To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients, by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted."

--Alexander Hamilton, Report on Manufactures, 1791

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George Washington

"The executive branch of this government never has, nor will suffer, while I preside, any improper conduct of its officers to escape with impunity."

--George Washington, letter to Gouverneur Morris, 1795

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George Washington

"The executive branch of this government never has, nor will suffer, while I preside, any improper conduct of its officers to escape with impunity."

--George Washington, letter to Gouverneur Morris, 1795

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James Madison

"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.

--James Madison, Federalist No. 44, 1788

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Thomas Jefferson

"We are firmly convinced, and we act on that conviction, that with nations as with individuals our interests soundly calculated will ever be found inseparable from our moral duties, and history bears witness to the fact that a just nation is trusted on its word when recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle others."

--Thomas Jefferson, Second Inaugural Address, 1805

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George Washington

"We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our won country's honor, all call upon us for vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the supreme being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions."

--George Washington, 1776

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Thomas Jefferson

"My confidence is that there will for a long time be virtue and good sense enough in our countrymen to correct abuses."

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Rutledge, 1788

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Thomas Jefferson

"My confidence is that there will for a long time be virtue and good sense enough in our countrymen to correct abuses."

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Rutledge, 1788

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Samuel Adams

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, — go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!”

John Adams

"The nature of the encroachment upon American constitution is such, as to grow every day more and more encroaching. Like a cancer; it eats faster and faster every hour. The revenue creates pensioners, and the pensioners urge for more revenue. The people grow less steady, spirited and virtuous, the seekers more numerous and more corrupt, and every day increases the circles of their dependents and expectants, until virtue, integrity, public spirit, simplicity and frugality become the objects of ridicule and scorn, and vanity, luxury, foppery, selfishness, meanness, and downright venality swallow up the whole of society."