Thursday, July 2, 2015

20 Founder Quotes

Here are 20 Quotes From the Founding Fathers That Destroy the Modern Tea Party

The Tea Party is fond of the Founding Fathers — at least, they say they are. But their image of the Founders is colored by revisionist history and by their own myopia. The Founders were radicals, liberals, deists — three things the Tea Party hates. So they fashion the Founders in their own image.
Here are some quotes from the Founding Fathers that directly contradict the Tea Party line.
17. First up, George Washington, the Father of our country. Silly, George; he thought that the people ought to actually obey the government they established.
 The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey established government. —GEORGE WASHINGTON Farewell Address, September 17, 1796
He also had some thoughts about who should be bearing those arms…
The distinction between a well-regulated army and a mob is the good order and discipline of the first and the licentious and disorderly behavior of the latter. —GEORGE WASHINGTON To Israel Putnam, 1776

16. Thomas Jefferson is the “inconvenient” Founder. The Tea Party doesn’t like him very much but they have to concede his role as writer of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson had an interesting opinion about giving judges too much power. Maybe he foresaw a Supreme Court like the one we have now…
It is a very dangerous doctrine to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions. It is one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. ~ Thomas Jefferson, Letter to W. C. Jarvis, 1820 ~
Jefferson also had a problem with an overclass:
... the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them... by the grace of God. —Thomas Jeffersom Letter to R. C. Weightman, June 24, 1826

15. John Adams, our second president, shared Jefferson’s belief that all Americans should be treated equally. He might have men like the Kochs in mind, here…
Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men... —John Adams, Thoughts on Government 1776

14. James Madison is known as “The Father of the Constitution.” He had an opinion on the social “safety net” long before that term was used:
To provide employment for the poor and support for the indigent is among the primary, and at the same time not least difficult cares of the public authority. —James Madison To Frederick C. Schaeffer, January 8, 1820
He also knew that liberty had boundaries. He might address this to the open carry nutters…
Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as the abuses of power. ~ James Madison, The Federalist Papers 1788 ~

13. Thomas Paine, though not an actual Founding Father, was instrumental in the formation of America. His pamphlet, Common Sense, laid out the American cause in simple and strong terms. He wrote The American Crisis in 1777, inspiring the Continental Army; it was read by about the same percentage of the population then as watch the Super Bowl today. These words could easily be applied to Fox News
A continual circulation of lies among those who are not much in the way of hearing them contradicted, will in time pass for truth; and the crime lies not in the believer but the inventor. —Thomas Paine, The Crisis 1777

12. Benjamin Franklin was a true American Renaissance Man. He founded the Post Office and the library system. He was head of the first anti-slavery society in our country. He was an inventor, writer, diplomat and sage. He served both in the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. He saw much war but longed for peace…
I have never known a peace made, even the most advantageous, that was not censured as inadequate, and the makers condemned as injudicious or corrupt. “Blessed are the peacemakers” is, I suppose, to be understood in the other world; for in this they are frequently cursed. ~ Benjamin Franklin To John Adams, October2, 1781 ~

11. Alexander Hamilton was the architect of the U.S. party system. He was pro-business and somewhat snooty. But even he knew that the greater good was most important…
When you assemble from your several counties in the Legislature, were every member to be guided only by the apparent interest of his county, government would be impracticable. There must be a perpetual accomodation and sacrifice of local advantage to general expediency. ~ Alexander Hamilton To the New York Ratifying Convention, June 17, 1788 ~

10. Benjamin Rush was a member of the Continental Congress and was treasurer of the U.S. Mint for 16 years. As the founder of Dickinson College, he had an opinion about education that most liberals share…
Freedom can exist only in the society of knowledge. Without learning, men are incapable of knowing their rights, and where learning is confined to a few people, liberty can be neither equal nor universal. ~ Benjamin Rush, Essay, 1786

9. John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and served as Secretary of State as well under Adams and into Jefferson’s term. He served as Chief Justice for 34 years, the longest of any in the position. The case of Marbury v. Madison is often said to be the most important case in our history. In it, the idea of judicial review was first applied, making it possible for federal courts to void acts of Congress in conflict with the Constitution.
The very essense of civil liberty... consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to afford that protection. ~ John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison 1803 ~

8. George Mason, though he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, did not sign the resulting document. He believed that the government was doomed to become either a monarchy or a corrupt aristocracy. I wonder what he’d make of our new oligarchy?
How easy it is to persuade men to sign anything by which they can’t be affected! ~ George Mason, 1791 ~

7. John Jay was a member of the Continental Congress but, since he desired a reunion with Great Britain, did not sign the Declaration of Independence. However, once America gained its independence, served in the Federal government he had argued for. He became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1789, but he retired to become Governor of New York. The most famous case to be heard in his SCOTUS, Georgia v. Brailsford, established the principle that in a jury trial the jury has the right and duty to judge the law as well as the facts in a case.
Justice is indiscriminately due to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank. —John Jay, Georgia v. Brailsford 1794 ~

6. Daniel Webster served in both Congressional bodies, as a Representative from New Hampshire and a senator from Massachusetts. He became Secretary of State twice and is considered to be the best ever to hold that post. He was a lauded orator, said to be, “like no other speaker in American history.” Along with John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay, Webster formed the Whig party.
Labor in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor. … Labor is the great producer of wealth: it moves all other causes. ~ Daniel Webster, Speech in the House of Representatives, April 2, 1824 ~

5. John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams and our sixth president, was said to resemble his father in many ways. He served as Secretary of State under James Monroe before becoming president himself. Afterward, he hoped to retire but was sent as a Representative by his district. He collapsed on the floor of the House in 1848 and died in the nearby Speaker’s room two days later. You can see that he learned much at his father’s knee…
Men must be ready, they must pride themselves and be happy to sacrifice their private pleasures, passions and interests, nay, their private friendships and dearest connections, when they stand in competition with the rights of society. —John Quincy Adams To Mercy Warren, April 16, 1776 ~

4. James Wilson served as a representative for Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress.  He later served in the Constitutional Convention, and spoke in support of a strong federal government. He later was made an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by President Washington.
A progressive state is necessary to the happiness and perfection of man...Let us, therefore, strive with noble emulation... Let us, with fervent zeal, press forward, and make unceasing advances in every thing that can support, improve, refine, or embellish society. … The commencement of our government has been eminently glorious: let our progress in every excellence be proportionably great.~ James Wilson, Oration, July 4, 1788 ~

3. Fisher Ames was the leader of the Federalist Party. He was a representative from Massachusetts for the ratifying of the Constitution and worked hard to help the new federal government on its feet. He served as a Representative to the new House from Massachusetts, often locking horns with James Madison. Ames was a dramatic orator and obviously knew why he had been sent to Congress…
We are not to consider ourselves, while here, as at church or school, to listen to the harangues of speculative piety; we are here to talk of the political interests committed to our charge. ~ Fisher Ames, Speech in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789 ~

2. William Penn, the storied founder of Pennsylvania, was a Quaker. When he founded the colony in 1677, he implemented a democratic system with freedom of religion, fair trials, elected representatives and separation of powers. Though he was born in England and died well before the war for independence, he was made an honorary American citizen in 1984 by President Reagan. Penn’s dedication to free religious expression was firm, as evidenced by his rebuke of those who persecute others…
... what religious, what wise, what prudent, what good natured person would be a persecutor; certainly it’s... only fit for those... being void of all reason, to evidence the verity of their own religion... and greedy inclination they find in themselves to persecute the contrary; a weakness of so ill a consequence to all civil societies, that the admission of it ever was, and ever will prove their utter ruin... ~ William Penn, The Great Case of Liberty and Conscience 1670 ~

1. James Monroe, our fifth president, was an anti-Federalist and sat with them at the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution. He served as a U.S. Senator, and as Minister to France, helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. He was born and raised Anglican, attending William and Mary College, an Anglican institution. But, later in life, he embraced Deism and eschewed organized religion…
During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution. ~ James Monroe, Address to the Virginia General Assembly, June 20, 1785 ~


The Founders were courageous, setting sail “in a skiff of paper” (as Ben Franklin put it), putting their fortunes and lives on the line to create this country. What they did overshadows anything the Tea Party or their representatives think they have accomplished.
The Founders said “YES!” to change, progress and stepping into the unknown. The Tea Party says “NO!” to… everything. When they compare themselves to the Founding Fathers, just laugh at them.

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