Founding Fathers
What America means to me, in the words of some of our Founding Fathers, all signatories to the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
• “A government that is strong enough to give us everything we want is strong enough to take everything we have.”
– Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3rd U.S. president.
• “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”
– John Adams (1735-1826), 2nd U.S. president.
• “If free speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
– George Washington (1732-1799), 1st U.S. president.
• “The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.”
– Thomas Jefferson
• “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
– Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).
• “Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual.”
– John Hancock (1737-1793)
• “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
– James Madison (1751-1836), 4th U.S. president.
• “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.”
– Benjamin Franklin
• “But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored.”
– John Adams
Compiled by Michael Pazeian
