‘Founders Corner’ Archives
The First Pillar in the Temple of Republicanism
LIBERTY LETTERS, DANIEL WEBSTER The first pillar in the temple of Republicanism is correct and stabile morality. All republics are predicated upon this principle; without it they cannot exist. Without virtue, honesty, and tolerance in rulers, and obedience and respect in people Constitutions are waste paper and laws of mockery. When ambition, [...]
Sam Adams: Right to Life, Liberty, Property Under God
LIBERTY LETTERS, SAMUEL ADAMS, 1772 Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called [...]
“Never was an Assembly of Men … More Pure in Their Motives”—Madison
Liberty Letters, James Madison Whatever may be the judgment pronounced on the competency of the architects of the Constitution, or whatever may be the destiny of the edifice prepared by them, I feel it a duty to express my profound and solemn conviction, derived from my intimate opportunity of observing and appreciating the views of the [...]
Europe Must Look to God, Moral Refinement, and a New Political Science to Guide Democratic Impulse
Liberty Letters, Alexis de Tocqueville ... Nor is this phenomenon at all peculiar to France. Whithersoever we turn our eyes we shall witness the same continual revolution throughout the whole of Christendom. The various occurrences of national existence have everywhere turned to the advantage of democracy; all men have aided it by their [...]
Reagan on Freedom v. Tyranny, Good v. Evil, God v. Atheism
American Minute with Bill Federer A graduate of Eureka College, IL, 1932, he announced for radio stations in Iowa. He married Jane Wyman and had children Maureen and Michael. He was a Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corp during World War II, then became an actor, appearing in over 50 films. He was President of the Screen Actors Guild, [...]
Daniel Webster: Other Misfortunes May Be Borne
LIBERTY LETTERS, DANIEL WEBSTER Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. If disastrous war should sweep our commerce from the ocean, another generation may renew it; if it exhaust our treasury, future industry may replenish it; if it desolate and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, they will grow green again, [...]
George Washington: Representation: Local, State, National
LIBERTY LETTERS, GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1786 That representatives ought to be the mouth of their Constituents, I do not deny, nor do I mean to call in question the right of the latter to instruct them. It is to the embarrassment, into which they may be thrown by these instructions in national matters that my objections lie. In speaking of national [...]
John Adams in 1776—Constituting the Best of Governments
LIBERTY LETTERS, JOHN ADAMS: 1776 If I was equal to the task of forming a plan for the government of a colony, I should be flattered with your request, and very happy to comply with it; because as the divine science of politics is the science of social happiness, and the blessings of society depend entirely on the constitutions of government, [...]
Abraham Lincoln: My Proudest Plume
Liberty Letters, Abraham Lincoln: 1839 Many free countries have lost their liberty; and ours may lose hers; but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted her. I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed by the evil spirit that reigns there, belching forth the lava [...]
Madison to Jefferson on the Need for a More Perfect Union
Liberty Letters, James Madison On March 18, 1786, James Madison wrote Thomas Jefferson regarding the Constitutional Convention's warm-up, a commercial convention in Annapolis, discussing the desperate need for a more unified nation, focusing this letter on the matter of commerce: A quorum of the deputies appointed by the Assembly for a [...]
Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots
GARY S. SMITH, CENTER FOR VISION & VALUES Among America’s amazing pantheon of founders, Patrick Henry stands out for his stirring speeches and fervent commitment to liberty, virtue, and small government. The Virginia planter, lawyer, and politician strongly denounced Great Britain’s political and economic control of the American [...]
No Inadaquacy in the Constitution
Called Unto Liberty, 20th Century Sermons, J. Reuben Clark Jr. Having in mind the loudness with which some few cry out against the inadequacy of our system, I may observe that the mere seeming existence of an exigency not apparently covered by our fundamental instrument, or the appearance of an inconvenience of mere administration under it, [...]
Iphitus: Adams’ Defense, No 47
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 47 Ancient Democratical Republics: IPHITUS Dear Sir, ELEIA had been the scene of athletic games, celebrated with great pomp by assemblies of chiefs from various parts of Greece. Iphitus, a grandson of Oxylus, succeeded to the throne of [...]
Alexis de Tocqueville: The New Despotism
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Alexis de Tocqueville I see an innumerable multitude of men, alike and equal, constantly circling around in pursuit of the petty and banal pleasures with which they glut their souls. Each of them, withdrawn into himself, is almost unaware of the fate of the rest. Mankind, for him, consists in his children and [...]
Argos: Adams ‘Defense’ No. 46
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 46 Ancient Democratical Republics: ARGOS My dear Sir, IN order to form an adequate idea of the miseries which were brought upon the Greeks by continual and innumerable revolutions of government, it should be considered, that the whole [...]
Origin of the Anglo-Americans and Its Future Importance
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Volume 1, CHAPTER 2 UTILITY of knowing the origin of nations, in order to understand their social condition and their laws--America the only country in which the starting-point of a great people has been clearly observable--In what respects all who emigrated to British America were [...]
Exterior Form of North America: Alexis de Tocqueville
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Volume 1, CHAPTER 1 North America is divided into two vast regions, one inclining towards the Pole, the other towards the Equator--Valley of the Mississippi--Traces found there of the revolutions of the globe --Shore of the Atlantic Ocean, on which the English colonies were [...]
Corinth: Adams ‘Defense’ No. 45
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 45 Ancient Democratical Republics: CORINTH My dear Sir, MONARCHY remained in this emporium of Greece longer than in any other of the principal cities; but the noble families here could no better endure the superiority of a monarch, than [...]
Putting Down the Mob, Defending Law and Order
Liberty Letters, Samuel Adams, 1766 This Town has always been very careful during the late Times of Calamity to preserve as much as possible Good order among its Inhabitants, of which they gave an Early Proof when a dangerous Mob arose and some Outrages were committed by Persons as yet unknown. A good deal of Mischief was done as all the World [...]
Crete’s So-Called Democracy: Adams’ Defense, No 44
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 44 Ancient Democratical Republics: CRETE My dear Sir, THIS celebrated island, with the fantastical honor of giving birth to some of the gods of Greece, had the real merit and glory of communicating to that country many useful improvements. [...]
Suggestions on Improving the Union by Thomas Jefferson: 1786
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Thomas Jefferson, 16 December 1786 Five months before the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Madison, offers some advice on improving the struggling Union: "I find by the public papers that your Commercial Convention failed in point of representation. If it [...]
Union A Main Prop of Our Liberty—George Washington
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, George Washington While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent [...]
Jefferson: The Monroe Doctrine and America’s Foreign Policy
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson in 1823, being consulted by Monroe, who had drawn the great statement known as the Monroe Doctrine, the document being submitted by Monroe to Jefferson, replied: "Our first and fundamental maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe; our second, never [...]
Madison: Limits on Treaty Making Power
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, James Madison I do not conceive that power is given to the President and Senate to dismember the empire, or to alienate any great, essential right. I do not think the whole legislative authority have this power. Source: Jonathan Elliot, ed. and comp., The Debates in the Several State Conventions, on the [...]
Achaia and the Volatility of Small Democracies: John Adams’ ‘Defense’ No. 43
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 43 Ancient Democratical Republics: ACHAIA Dear Sir, THE Achæans, whose republic became so famous in later times, inhabited a long but narrow strip of land along the Corinthian gulph, which was destitute of harbors, and; as its shores were [...]
The Evils it Prevents: DeTocqueville on Liberty of the Press
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Alexis de Tocqueville I confess that I do not entertain that firm and complete attachment to the liberty of the press which is wont to be excited by things that are supremely good in their very nature. I approve of it from a consideration more of the evils it prevents than of the advantages it [...]
Antalcidas Crushes Liberty by Deceit: Adams’ Defense No. 42
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 42 Ancient Democratical Republics: ANTALCIDAS Dear Sir, IN the year 1774, a certain British officer, then at Boston, was often heard to say, "I wish I were Parliament: I would not send a ship or troop to this country; but would forthwith [...]
Nothing Can Deter Us From Asserting Our Rights: Sam Adams
Liberty Letters, Samuel Adams, 1766 The House have fully considered your Excellency's speech of the third instant, and beg leave to observe, that as on the one hand no consideration shall ever induce us to remit in the least our loyalty and gratitude to the best of Kings, so on the other, no unprovoked asperity of expression on the part of [...]
Message to Congress in Special Session: Abraham Lincoln
Liberty Letters, Abraham Lincoln, July 4, 1861 Having been convened on an extraordinary occasion, as authorized by the Constitution, your attention is not called to any ordinary subject of legislation. At the beginning of the present Presidential term, four months ago, the functions of the Federal Government were found to be generally [...]
James Wilson on Constitution, State Sovereignty, and Consolidation
Liberty Letters, James Wilson Convention of Philadelphia, December 1, 1787 Mr. WILSON. The secret is now disclosed, and it is discovered to be a dread, that the boasted state sovereignties will, under this system, be disrobed of part of their power. Before I go into the examination of this point, let me ask one important question. Upon what [...]
Democracy In America: Author’s Introduction
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Volume 1, AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION AMONG the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general equality of condition among the people. I readily discovered the prodigious influence that this primary fact exercises on the [...]
Laus Deo!—December 18, 1865
Laus Deo! Upon hearing the bells ring on the passage of the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. ————— IT is done! Clang of bell and roar of gun Send the tidings up and down. How the belfries rock and reel! How the great guns, peal on peal, Fling the joy from town to town! Ring, O bells! Every stroke exulting [...]
Sam Adams: On Just Opposition to Law
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Samuel Adams, 1766 An Opposition to an Act of Parliament merely from a regard to the Constitution cannot surely be looked upon as a Contempt of the Authority of Government since Government itself is built upon and circumscribed by the Constitution, or in other Words to contend for the grand Design and Ends for [...]
Athens: Adams “Defense” No. 41
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 41 Ancient Democratical Republics: ATHENS My dear Sir, CECROPS, an Egyptian, conducted a colony that settled in Athens, and first engaged the wandering shepherds and hunters of Attica to unite in villages of husbandmen. Although the [...]
Happy Bill of Rights Day
Tony Woodlief, The Center for Vision and Values An estimated 4.5 million young people will vote for the first time in the 2012 presidential election. Is this a good or bad thing? The popular answer is that it is indeed good. Many people think that the very act of voting is inherently virtuous. But in an age when many political candidates are [...]
Ronald Reagan On Our Duty to Our Children
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Ronald Reagan Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once [...]
John Adams—What Was the Revolution?
American Correspondence Following his presidency, John Adams—in a letter to Baltimore publisher, Hezikiah Niles—recalls the events surrounding the American Revolution. But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? The revolution was effected before the war commenced. The revolution was in the minds and hearts [...]
More Harm Than Good
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Abraham Lincoln Property is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable, is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently [...]
Lacedaemon, Adams’ “Defense” No. 40
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 40 Ancient Aristocratical Republics: LACEDÆMON My dear Sir, FROM the days of Homer to those of Lycurgus, the governments in Greece were monarchical in name and pretension, but aristocratical in reality. The archons were impatient of [...]
Homer on Ithaca: Adams “Defense” No. 39
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 39 Ancient Monarchical Republics: HOMER on ITHACA Dear Sir, THE court of Ithaca, in the absence of Ulysses, is an admirable example of the intrigues of the archons, and their insatiable ambition. The throne of Ithaca, and the sceptre of [...]
Samuel Adams On the Right to Trial By Jury
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Samuel Adams (1764) And it is also certain that this Law admits of our Properties being tried, in Controversies arising from internal Concerns, by Courts of Admiralty, without a Jury. It follows, that at once, it annihilates the most valuable Privileges of our Charter, deprives us of the most essential Rights [...]
Regarding Ancient Greek Tyrants, Modern Elites, & Manly Duty
The Moral Liberal with Steve Farrell Writing in his classic "A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States," regarding the Greek monarchy at Ithaca, American Founding Father John Adams observes: That the Grecian kings, claiming from Jupiter and supported by their auguries and bards, thought themselves absolute, and often punished the [...]
Which is the Most Warlike and Most Revolutionary Class in Democratic Armies
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Vol. 2, Sect. 3, Ch. 23 IT is of the essence of a democratic army to be very numerous in proportion to the people to which it belongs, as I shall hereafter show. On the other hand, men living in democratic times seldom choose a military life. Democratic nations are therefore soon led to [...]
Ben Franklin: Imitators v. Counterfeiters
Liberty Letters, Benjamin Franklin There is much difference between imitating a good man, and counterfeiting him. Source: Benjamin Franklin: Sayings of Poor Richard from Poor Richard's Almanack. Fleming H. Revell Company, 1960. Liberty Letters are researched, compiled, and edited (with occasional commentary, explanatory notes, [...]
Why Democratic Nations Naturally Desire Peace, and Democratic Armies, War
Democracy In America, Alexis deTocqueville, 1831 Vol. 2, Sect. 3, Ch. 22 The same interests, the same fears, the same passions that deter democratic nations from revolutions deter them also from war; the spirit of military glory and the spirit of revolution are weakened at the same time and by the same causes. The ever increasing numbers [...]
Samuel Adams: The Basis of Public Happiness
Liberty Letters, Samuel Adams, 1764 Being Members of the Legislative Body, you will have a special Regard to the Morals of this People, which are the Basis of public Happiness; and endeavor to have such Laws made if any are still wanting as shall be best adapted to secure them. Source: Samuel Adams, “Instructions of the Town of [...]
Honest Abe
Liberty Letters, Abraham Lincoln (age 27) Letter to Colonel Robert Allen. June 21, 1836 Dear Colonel, I am told that during my absence last week you passed through this place, and stated publicly that you were in possession of a fact or facts which, if known to the public, would entirely destroy the prospects of N. W. Edwards and myself [...]
Sam Adams: Preserving Morals, Property & Right
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Samuel Adams As the Preservation of Morals as well as Property and Right, so much depends upon the impartial Distribution of Justice, agreeable to good and wholesome Law: and as the Judges of the Land do depend upon the free Grants of the General Assembly for Support; It is incumbent upon you at all times to [...]
Homer on Phaecia: Adams “Defense” No. 38
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 38 Ancient Monarchical Republics: HOMER on PHÆACIA Dear Sir, IN the kingdom, or rather aristocracy, of Phæacia, as represented in the Odyssey, we have a picture at full length of those forms of government which at that time prevailed in [...]
Defense Authorization Bill Still Savages the Constitution
By Dennis Behreandt Despite a tremendous, last-minute outcry from both sides of the political aisle, the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 by a vote of 93 to 7 on December 1. Civil libertarians on both the left and the right opposed passage because the measure contained language allowing the [...]
