Richard Henry Lee is believed to be the author of Federal Farmer. “I must be granted that if men hastily and blindly adopt a system of government, they will as hastily and as blindly be led to alter or abolish it; and changes must ensue, one after another, till the peaceable and better part of the community will row weary with changes, tumults, and disorders, and be disposed to accept any government, however despotic, that shall promise stability and firmness.” Federal Farmer

Lyman Hall was born on April 12, 1725, in Wallingford, Connecticut, to the Honorable Jon and May (Street) Hall. He was the third son and fifth child overall. His family ancestry can be traced to England, and his paternal Great-Great Grandfather came to Boston from Coventry, England, in 1688. He moved to Hartford and then New Haven in 1639. Another Great-Great Grandfather came to Boston in 1631. His maternal Great-Great Grandfather, Reverend Nicholas Street, came to Plymouth C

"But, however respectable the members may be who signed the Constitution, it must be admitted that a free people are the proper guardians of their rights and liberties, that the greatest men may err, and that their errors are sometimes of the greatest magnitude." Elbridge Gerry Objections to the Constitution, New York, October 18, 1797

“I am weary of politics. It is a study that corrupts the human heart, degrades the idea of human nature, and drives men to the expedients that morality must condemn.” William Hooper, NC Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Mark Twain “This man’s life-work was so inconspicuous that his name would be wholly forgotten, but for one thing – he signed the Declaration of Independence. Yet his life was a most useful and worthy one. It was a good and profitable voyage, though it left no phosphorescent splendors in its wake… In short, Francis Lightfoot Lee was a gentleman – a word which meant a great deal in his day, though it means nothing whatever in ours.” Mark Twain

Barbara Jordan speaking at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on July 25, 1974 “My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.”* Barbara Jordan, TX Congresswoman at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on July 25, 1974 *It took her many years to get to this point, per her own speech that day, but when she did, she fiercely de

“With respect to the advice given by the Author, to suspect the Man, who shall recommend moderate measures and longer forbearance, I spurn it, as every Man, who regards liberty, and reveres that justice for which we contend, undoubtedly must; for if Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may

“Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth.” Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XIX: Manufactures. 1781 Agree or Disagree?

“The natural liberty of man, by entering society, is abridged or restrained, so far only as is necessary for the great end of society, the best good of the whole.” Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists, November 1772 *What does this mean for the role of government in society? Does this view contribute to a restraint of government or an endless government that takes care of your every need?

“Should a person, for instance, whose ability and circumstances enable him to do good in the world, to relieve his distressed brethren, and be an example of charity and other virtues, tamely yield up all his interest and become an absolute slave to some unjust and wicked oppressor, when he might by a manly resistance have secured his liberty, would not be guilty of great unfaithfulness to God, and justly liable to his condemnation?” Simeon Howard, A Sermon Preached to the Anc

“I can see the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph in that day’s transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not.” John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776

“[L]et me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaevholding, nor slaves can anywhere be found in it” Frederick Douglas, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, July 5, 1852

First Page of the Topeka Constitution “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit; and they have the right to alter, reform, or abolish the same whenever they deem it necessary.” Topeka Constitution: sourced from Divided Over the Declaration, How and Enduring Debate Sustains the Vision of America by David J. Bobb and Tony Williams

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Aristotle

“A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of a higher obligation.” Thomas Jefferson to John Colvin, September 20, 1810

Gordon Wood “The Revolution brought respectability and even dominance to ordinary people long held in contempt and gave dignity to their menial labor in a manner unprecedented in history and to a degree not equaled elsewhere in the world.” Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution

Constitutionality of Banks “The circumstances that the powers of sovereignty are in this country divided between the National and State governments, do not afford the distinction required. It does not follow from this, that each of the portions of powers delegated to the one or to the other, is not sovereign with regard to its proper objects. It will only follow from it, that each has sovereign power as to certain things, and not as to other things.” Alexander Hamilton, Opini

“We derive all of our political rights from their fearless publication by the Declaration of Independence.” Ansel Bascom, President (mayor) of Seneca Falls during the Committee on the Rights and Privileges of Citizens at a State Constitutional Convention held in New York in 1846.* *Information found in “Divided Over the Declaration” by David J. Bobb and Tony Williams

“Give ear, my children, to my words, Whom God hath dearly brought: Lay up his laws within your hearts... And print them in your heart...” Mr. John Rodgers, Minister of the Gospel in London* Mr. Rodgers was the first martyr in Queen Mary’s reign and was executed in front of his wife and nine small children. This is part of a poem he wrote to his children a few days before he was executed for being a heretic.

“Each govt. is in its sphere sovereign, so far as the term is applicable in a country where the people alone are so, the State govts. don’t derive their authorities from the general govt.; they are not established by its ordinances, or accountable to it for their administration. like the frontier govts., or the revenue or other offices of the U. States.” James Monroe, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 4, 1801