The Cause of America

"The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind."

Thomas Paine
"Common Sense"; 1776

Only Americans

"There ought to be no New England men, no New Yorker, &c., known on the Continent, but all of us Americans."

Christopher Gadsen
To Charles Garth; 1765

The Seat of Virtue

"May we ever be a people favoured of GOD. May our land be a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum of the oppressed, a name and a praise in the whole earth, until the last shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguished ruin!"

Joseph Warren
Boston Massacre Oration; March, 1772

Obliged

"But we want no excuse for any supposed mistakes of our ancestors. Let us first see it prov'd that they were mistakes. 'Till then we must hold ourselves obliged to them for sentiments transmitted to us so worthy of their character, and so important to our security."

Samuel Adams
Boston Gazette; 1771

The Harder I Work

"I'm a firm believer in luck, and it seems the harder I work the more of it I have."

Thomas Jefferson

Exceedingly Thankful

"When we view this country in its extent and variety of climates, soils, and produce, we ought to be exceeding thankful to divine goodness in bestowing it upon our forefathers, and giving it as an heritage for their children. We may call it the promised land, a good land and a large--a land of hills and vallies, of rivers, brooks and springs of water--a land of milk and honey, and wherin we may eat bread to the full. A land whose stones are iron, the most useful material in all nature, and of other choice mines and minerals; and a land whose rivers and adjacent seas are stored with the best of fish. In a word, no part of the habitable world can boast of so many natural advantages as this northern part of America."

Silas Downer
"A Discourse at the Dedication of the Tree of Liberty"; 1768

A Little Neglect

"A little neglect may breed mischief: for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost."

Benjamin Franklin
"Poor Richard's Almanack; 1745

Wonderous Works of Providence

"See the wonderous works of Providence! The uncertainty of human things!"

George Washington
To Robert Jackson; 1755

An Armed Populace

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States."

Noah Webster
"An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution" 1787

Becoming a Happy People

"If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy."

Thomas Jefferson
To Thomas Cooper; 1802