The history of the
United States is rich in important lessons that must be learned and
passed on from one generation to the next. Many of these lessons are
best revealed through the beliefs expressed by the founding generation
of Americans. By studying the words of our founding fathers, we can better
understand our past and the events that shaped the history of our
nation. "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know." - John Adams George Washington “Your love of liberty, your respect for the laws, your habits of industry, and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness” John Adams “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” Thomas Jefferson “Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.” James Madison "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” Alexander Hamilton “The Sacred Rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of the Divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.” |