a dog-eared town

I know it was a different time back then, but you’d think with the understanding of human nature Mr Jefferson wouldn’t say the following.
“My confidence is that there will for a long time be virtue and good sense enough in our countrymen to correct abuses.”
– Thomas Jefferson (letter to Edward Rutledge, 1788)
Reference: The Writings of […]

“Strive to be the greatest man in your country, and you may be disappointed. Strive to be the best and you may succeed:he may well win the race that runs by himself.”
– Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1747)
Reference: Bartlett’s Quotations (177)
I’m always amazed at the quotes that Ben Franklin said. So many of them […]

If duties are too high, they lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and moderate bounds. This forms a complete barrier against any material oppression of the citizens by taxes of this class, and is itself a natural […]

“[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore…never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold at market.”
– Thomas Jefferson (letter to Judge William Johnson, 12 June 1823)
Reference: […]

“Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.”
– John Adams (Defense of the Constitutions, 1787)
Reference: The Learning of Liberty, Prangle and Prangle (96); original The Works of John Adams, C.F. Adams, ed., vol. 6 (168)

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I guess some of the founding fathers didn’t hold back and were pretty blunt about how they felt on things.
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the […]

“I am persuaded that a firm union is as necessary to perpetuate our liberties as it is to make us respectable; and experience will probably prove that the National Government will be as natural a guardian of our freedom as the State Legislatures.”
– Alexander Hamilton (speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, June 1788)
Reference: The […]