American Great Heritage Created Through The Works and Words Of Patriots

America's Great Heritage Created

Through The Works

and Words Of Patriots

1787, June 27

- Benjamin Franklin to the delegates at the

Constitutional

Convention:

“In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were

sensible

danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine

protection. Our prayers,

sir,

were heard; and they were graciously

answered."

“All of us who were engaged in this struggle must have

observed

frequent

instances of a superintending Providence in our

favor. To

that kind

Providence

we owe this happy opportunity of

consulting

in peace on the

means of

establishing our future national

felicity.

And have we now forgotten

that powerful

Friend? Or do we

imagine

that we no longer need His

assistance?”

“I have lived, sir, a long time; and the longer I live the more

convincing

proofs I

see of this truth--that God governs in the affairs

of men; and if a

sparrow cannot

fall to the ground without his

notice, is it probable that an

empire can rise without

His aid?”

“We have been assured, sir, in sacred writings, that except the

Lord build

the

house they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe

this; and I also believe

that

without his concurring aid we shall

succeed in this political building no

better

than the builders of

Babel.”

1788, May 28

- George Washington to the Marquis de

Lafayette:

“The plot thickens fast. A few short weeks will determine the

political fate of

America for the present generation and probably

produce no small influence

the happiness of society through a

long succession of ages to come.

Should

every thing proceed with

harmony and consent according to our

actual wishes

and

expectations; I will confess to you sincerely, my dear

Marquis; it will

be so

much beyond any thing we had a right to imagine or

expect

eighteen months

ago, that it will demonstrate as visibly the finger of

Providence, as any possible

event in the course of human affairs

can ever

designate it.”

1796, September 17

- George Washington in his farewell

address:

“The -- Constitution -- ‘till changed --,’ is sacredly obligatory upon

all -- But

let

there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in

one instance, may be

the

instrument of good, it is the customary

weapon by which free governments

are

destroyed. --”

1838, January 27

- Abraham Lincoln in his address

at the

Young

Men’s

Lyceum

in Springfield,

Illinois:

“I know the American People are much attached to their

Government;

- I

know

they would suffer much for its sake;

I know

they would endure evils long

and

patiently, before they would ever

think of exchanging it for another. Yet,

notwithstanding all this, if the

laws be continually despised and disregarded, if

their rights to be

secure in their persons and property, are held by no better

tenure

than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of their affections from the

Government is the natural consequence; and to that, sooner or

later, it must

come."

“Here then, is one point at which danger may be expected.”

“The question recurs, ”how shall we fortify against it?" The

answer is

simple.

Let every American, every lover of liberty, every

well wisher to his

posterity,

swear by the blood of the Revolution,

never to violate in the least

particular, the

laws of the country; and

never to tolerate their violation by

others. As the patriots

of seventy-

six did to the support of the Declaration of

Independence, so to the

support of the Constitution and Laws, let every

American pledge his

life, his

property, and his sacred honor;-

let every man

remember

that to violate the law, is

to trample on the blood of his father, and to

tear the character of his own, and his

children’s liberty.

Let

reverence for the

laws

be breathed by every American

mother, to

the lisping babe, that prattles

on her lap

let it

be taught in schools,

seminaries, and in colleges; let it

written in Primers, spelling

books, and in

Almanacs;

let it be preached from the

pulpit,

proclaimed in legislative

halls, and

enforced in courts of justice.

And, in

short, let it

become the political religion of

the nation; and let

the old

and the

young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the

gay,

of all sexes and tongues,

and colors and conditions,

sacrifice

unceasingly

upon its altars

“While ever a state of feeling, such as thi

s, shall universally, or

even, very

generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every

effort, and fruitless

every attempt, to subvert our national freedom.”

*************************

(Page 2)

America's Great Heritage Created

Through The Works

and Words Of Patriots

1863, November 19

- Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg

Address:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on

this

continent a

new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to

the proposition

that all men are

created equal.

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that

nation, or

any

nation, so conceived, and so dedicated, can long

endure.

“. . . It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task

remaining

before us .

. . that we here highly resolve that these dead

shall not have died in

vain. . . and

that government of the people, by

the people, and for the people

shall not perish

from the earth.”

1961, January 17

- President Eisenhower in his farewell

address:

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the

acquisition of

unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,

by the military-industrial

complex. The potential for the disastrous

rise of misplaced power exists and

will

persist.”

“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our

liberties or

democratic processes. We should take nothing for

granted. Only an alert and

knowledgeable citizenry can compel the

proper meshing of the huge industrial

and military machinery of

defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so

that

security and

liberty may prosper together.”

“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal

employment,

project allocations, and the power of money is ever

present - and

is gravely to be

regarded.”

“Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as

we should,

must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger

that public policy could

itself

become the captive of a scientific-

technological elite..”

1961, January 20

- President Kennedy Inaugural Address:

“Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice,

President

Eisenhower,

Vice President Nixon, President Truman,

reverend clergy, fellow

citizens, we

observe today not a victory of

party, but a celebration of freedom -

symbolizing

an end, as well as

a beginning - signifying renewal, as well as

change. For I have

sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath

our

forebears

prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.”

“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal

hands the

power

to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms

of human life. And

yet the

same revolutionary beliefs for which our

forebears fought are still at

issue around

the globe-the belief that

the rights of man come not from the

generosity of the

state, but from

the hand of God.”

“We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first

revolution. Let

the

word go forth from this time and place, to friend

and foe alike, that the torch

has

been passed to a new generation of

Americans - born in this century,

tempered

by war, disciplined by a

hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient

heritage - and

unwilling

to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human

rights to

which

this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are

committed today at

home and around the world. . . ”

“. . . In the long history of the world, only a few generations have

been

granted

the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum

danger. I do not

shrink from

this responsibility - I welcome it. I do not

believe that any of us

would exchange

places with any other people

or any other generation. The

energy, the faith, the

devotion which

we bring to this endeavor will light our

country and all who serve

it -

and the glow from that fire can truly light the

world. . . ”

1961, April 27

- President Kennedy in his “President and

the Press” speech:

“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open

society; and we

are as

a people inherently and historically opposed

to secret societies, to

secret oaths

and secret proceedings. We

decided long ago that the dangers of

excessive and

unwarranted

concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the

dangers which

are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in

opposing the

threat of a

closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions.

Even

today, there is little

value in insuring the survival of our nation if our

traditions do not survive with it.

And there is very grave danger that

announced need for increased security

will be seized upon by

those anxious

to expand its meaning to the very limits of

official

censorship and

concealment. That I do not intend to permit. . . .”

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