A Few Quotes from Our Founding Fathers
Curated by Denise Rivette
“As to the history of the revolution, my ideas may be peculiar perhaps singular. What do we mean by the revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.”
John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, August 24, 1815
“Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a Freeman, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.”
George Washington, General Orders from his Headquarters, New York, July 2, 1776
“We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.”
Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 4, September 12, 1777
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 1, December 19, 1776
“It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the cause of the United American States, and finally to raise up a powerful friend among the princes of the earth, to establish our liberty and independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the divine goodness, and celebrating the important event, which we owe to His divine interposition.”
Happy Independence Day!!
And let’s not forget that not all of the Founding Fathers were Christians. Our Founding Fathers knew that separation of church and state was vital to a healthy nation.