“An act for punishing mutiny and desertion, and for the better payment of the army and their quarters... and whereas the publick houses and barracks, in his Majesty’s dominions in America, may not be sufficient to supply quarters for such forces; and whereas it is expedient and necessary that carriages and other conveniencies, upon the march of troops in his Majesty’s dominions in America, should be supplied for that purpose...” Indirect Taxation: The Quartering Act

“It is therefore originally and ultimately in the people. I say this supreme absolute power is originally and ultimately in the people; and they never did in fact freely, nor can they rightfully make an absolute, unlimited renunciation of this divine right.” James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved (1764)

"A separate Legislation is not the absolute right of British Subjects residing out of the seat of Empire; it may or may not be allowed, and has or has not been granted, according to the circumstances of the community.” Governor Francis Bernard, Principles of Law and Polity, Applied to Government of the British Colonies in America (1764)

“Perhaps nothing could have been better conceived to facilitate the abolition of the state governments than the constitution of the judicial. They will be able to extend the limits of the general government gradually, and by insensible degrees, and to accommodate themselves to the temper of the people. Their decisions on the meaning of the constitution will commonly take place in cases which arise between individuals, with which the public will not be generally acquainted; on

“For on the one hand, they will not readily pass laws which they know the courts will not execute; so on the other, we may be sure they will not scruple to pass such as they know they will give effect, as often as they may judge it proper.” Brutus, Essay XII

Brutus Essay IV “The great art, therefore, in forming a good constitution appears to be this: so to frame it as that those to whom the power is committed shall be subject to the same feelings, and aim at the same objects as the people do, who transfer to them their authority. There is no possible way to effect this but by an equal, full, and fair representation; this, therefore, is the great desideratum in politics.” Brutus, Essay IV, November 29, 1787

“This constitution considers the people of the several states as one body corporate and is intended as an original compact.” Brutus Essay V, December 13, 1787

“But remember, when the people once part with power, they can seldom or never resume it again but by force.” Brutus* Essay I October 18, 1787 *Historians believe that Robert Yates of New York was the writer of the Brutus essays.

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