What do we mean by Revolution?

"As to the history of the revolution, my ideas may be peculiar perhaps singular. What do we mean by the revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington."

John Adams in a letter to Thomas Jefferson

Choicest Blessings and Natural Rights

"The liberty enjoyed by the people of these States of worshipping Almighty God, agreeably to their consciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights."

George Washington

The Source of Rights

"A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate."

Thomas Jefferson

The Source of all Rights

"A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate."

Safe Depositories

"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories."

Thomas Jefferson

A Bright Constellation

"Equal and exact justice to all men...freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of the person under the protection of haveas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected; these principles form the bright constellation that has gone before us."

Thomas Jefferson

Experiment of Liberty

"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, April 30, 1789

Occupy Your Life

"A people who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything."

George Washington

Preservation of Freedom

"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."

James Madison

Foundations

"Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it."
John Adams (Thoughts on Government, 1776)