"The happiness of civil society depends not merely upon their constitution of government but upon a variety of circumstances. One constitution may suit one particular nation exceedingly well; when a different one would suit another nation in different circumstances. Even among the American states there is such a difference in sentiments, habits, and customs that a government which would be very suitable for one might not be agreeable to another." Samuel Huntington, CT Signer

“My hand trembles, but my heart does not.” Stephen Hopkins, RI Signer of the Declaration upon his signing of the document

“You must exert yourself. To be ruled by Tories when we may be ruled by Sons of Liberty how debasing. There is liberty and fire enough, it only requires the application of the bellows. Blow, then, a blast that will shake this country.” William Ellery, RI, Signer of the Declaration of Independence

“The day before yesterday the declaration of American independency was voted by twelve colonies agreeable to the sense of the constituents, and New-York was silent, till their new convention (which sits next week) expressed their assent, of which we have some doubt. Thus the issue is joined; and it is our comfortable reflection, that if by struggling we can avoid the servile subjection which Britain demanded, we remain a free and happy people; but if, through the frowns of Pr

“I am sorry for this occasion of writing so boldly, and of being obliged to come to such Resolutions, but the Safety of myself & the Country I have the honor to be a Native requires some Resolutions, I am free and Determin’d to be so & will not willingly, and quietly subject myself to Slavery.” John Hancock, Letter to his agents in October of 1965

“It is the duty of every citizen, though he may have but one day to live, to devote that day to the good of his country.” Elbridge Gerry, MA Signer of the Declaration of Independence

“It is a very great mistake to image that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular action.” Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

“Jefferson lives.” Last words of John Adams

“Long has America mourned to find those she wishes to revere, adopting one plan after another to strip her of the blessings of freedom, deaf to all her pleas for justice. The Counsels of America, united in that illustrious body, the late Continental Congress, we hoped that by denying ourselves we should scatter the mist which hid the path of justice from the eye of Britain; but with pain we have learned that firmness is insolence, and that the most calm resolution to be free

“The time is now at hand when we shall see that whether America has virtue enough to be free or not.” Dr. Josiah Bartlett, New Hampshire Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

"Among the pretended defects are the re-eligibility of the Executive, the want of a council, the omission of a formal bill of rights, the omission of a provision respecting the liberty of the press. These and several others which have been noted in the course of our inquiries are as much chargeable on the existing constitution of this State, as on the one proposed for the Union; and a man must have slender pretensions to consistency, who can rail at the latter for imperfectio

"The truth is, after all the declamations we have heard, that the Constitution is itself, in every rational sense, and to every useful purpose, A BILL OF RIGHTS." Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 84

"For my own part, the more the operation of the institution has fallen under my observation, the more reason I have discovered for holding it in high estimation; and it would be altogether superfluous to examine to what extent it deserves to be esteemed useful or essential in a representative republic, or how much more merit it may be entitled to, as a defense against the oppressions of an hereditary monarch, than as a barrier to the tyranny of popular magistrates in a popula

"I mean not therefore to contend that the United States, in the course of legislation upon the objects intrusted to their direction, may not commit the decision of causes arising upon a particular regulation to the federal courts solely, if such a measure should be deemed expedient; but I hold that the State courts will be divested of no part of their primitive jurisdiction, further than may relate to an appeal; and I am even of opinion that in every case in which they were n

"And there is a still greater absurdity in subjecting the decisions of men, selected for their knowledge of the laws, acquired by long and laborious study, to the revision and control of men who, for want of the same advantage, cannot but be deficient in that knowledge. The members of the legislature will rarely be chosen with a view to those qualifications which fit men for the stations of judges..." Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 81

"The mere necessity of uniformity in the interpretation of the national laws, decides the question. Thirteen independent courts of final jurisdiction over the same causes, arising upon the same laws, is a hydra in government, from which nothing but contradiction and confusion can proceed.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 80

"In the general course of human nature, A POWER OVER A MAN's SUBSISTENCE AMOUNTS TO A POWER OVER HIS WILL." Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 79

"No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid." Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 78

"The private attachments of one man might easily be satisfied; but to satisfy the private attachments of a dozen, or of twenty men, would occasion a monopoly of all the principal employments of the government in a few families, and would lead more directly to an aristocracy or an oligarchy than any measure that could be contrived." Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 77

" Humanity and good policy conspire to dictate, that the benign prerogative of pardoning should be as little as possible fettered or embarrassed. The criminal code of every country partakes so much of necessary severity, that without an easy access to exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt, justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel." Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 74