Gordon S. Wood Quotes

I never tire of reading Tom Paine.

John Quincy Adams most certainly was a part of the Revolutionary War era. He was a young boy, but he was actively involved.

Founding Fathers

The Declaration of Independence is no part of the Constitution or of any other book.

Quite naturally, the men who led in stirring up the revolt against Great Britain and in keeping the fighting temper of the Revolutionists at the proper heat were the boldest and most radical thinkers - men like Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson.

I'm very interested in the early American history, the time when the country came together.

George Washington’s brother, Lawrence, was the Uncle of Our Country.

I can't rightly say where deciding to write about the American Revolution came from; I had bits and pieces of information about the war and about the country at that time that I'd collected over the years and, of course, I'm comfortable in the woods, so, finally, it just all feel into place.

I think Tom Paine is one of the greatest men that's ever lived.

New Hampshire is one of the birthplaces of American freedom and independence - a place with a love and a passion for liberty.

A lot of good things start in Virginia; a lot of good things have started in Virginia. We're no strangers to firsts.

How I longed to see these things; how I longed to see the Liberty Bell and walk on the streets where Thomas Jefferson, Tom Paine and Benjamin Franklin had walked.

Generations of devoted American history buffs have spent countless hours reading and writing long books about the American Revolution without ever having come across the name of Dr. Thomas Young. Yet it was Young who came up with the idea for the original tea party - the one in Boston Harbor.

At noon, on the Fourth of July, 1826, while the Liberty Bell was again sounding its old message to the people of Philadelphia, the soul of Thomas Jefferson passed on; and a few hours later John Adams entered into rest, with the name of his old friend upon his lips.

Fairfax was incredibly important to the shaping of the country.

Patrick Henry aligned himself against ratification. So did Richard Henry Lee.

In January 1776, Thomas Paine issued 'Common Sense,' advocating independence from Great Britain.

I would like to acquire a document autographed by John Witherspoon, who signed the Declaration of Independence and is one of my American heroes.

My next book is also set in the eighteenth century. It's about the Revolution, with the focus on the year 1776. It's about Washington and the army and the war. It's the nadir, the low point of the United States of America.

As soon as I moved to Princeton in 1978, I became fascinated by local history, much of it Revolutionary War-era; and I became fascinated by the presidency of Woodrow Wilson at Princeton University.

America started out as an invention society.

I had a visit from Mr. James Buchanan, Secretary of State. He told me that he had formerly visited my father at Quincy [MA], and said that in speaking to him of some of the Tories during our Revolutionary War, he said they were men of great respectability, fine talents, and excellent private character, but that they were all deplorably loyal—an epithet which Mr. Buchanan said had greatly diverted him.

The taverns were the headquarters of the American Revolution.

If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worthwhile.

I consider Paine our greatest political thinker…. We never had a sounder intelligence in this Republic. He was the equal of Washington in making American liberty possible. Where Washington performed Paine devised and wrote. The deeds of one in the world were matched by the deeds of the other with his pen.