James Madison Quotes
If there be a principle that ought not to be questioned within the United States, it is that every man has a right to abolish an old government and establish a new one. This principle is not only recorded in every public archive, written in every American heart, and sealed with the blood of American martyrs, but is the only lawful tenure by which the United States hold their existence as a nation.
Madison, James. "The Federalist No. 40." The Federalist, edited by Jacob E. Cooke, Wesleyan University Press, 1961, p. 265.
See Thomas Jefferson: {605051} for a somewhat similar notion.
In Philadelphia, the state delegates had just started to vote for independence. The majority of each state delegation determined the vote for the state. Delaware had three delagates, but only two were in Philadelphia. Rodney, the third delegate from Delaware, had been attending a meeting in Dover when he received word that the other two Delaware delagates Thomas McKean and George Read were split—McKean for and Read against independence. Rodney immediately left for Philadelphia late on July 1. He rode all night in a thunderstorm to traverse the 80 miles to Philadelphia. He arrived in his spurs and riding boots and cast his famous vote and thus Delaware voted for Independence. After the vote, the next 2 days were spent drafting the Declaration of Independence and Rodney signed it on July 4. After Rodney returned to Delaware, he was ousted in the next election by conservative loyalists who felt that Rodney had betrayed them and England.
Although opposed to monarchy himself, Langdon argued that a people had a right to select monarchical government if they chose. See {634001} for Rev. Dan Foster’s similar argument at in that period.
While he thought a people had a right to have a king, he also made radical statements regarding the British and their monarchy. See {633999}. The right of a people to have a king was also stated by the President of Harvard in that period— {633996}.
There is an close similarity between the Dutch revolutionary statements and that of the Founding Fathers of America. The Dutch rebels were very well aware of the American Revolution and the subsequent establishment of a republic, and emulated much of the American experience. They were the first foreign people to be inspired by the American Revolution. Many followed.
This was the first contact between the colonists and the French government. The French agent was very non committal and the parties were just feeling each other out. Franklin made it perfectly clear that the colonists would not trade the English King for a French one and become part of the French empire.
James Madison Jr. was an American statesman, diplomat, expansionist, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the United States Bill of Rights. He co-wrote The Federalist Papers, co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party, and served as the fifth United States Secretary of State from 1801 to 1809.
