We are free today substantially, but the day will come when our Republic will be an impossibility. It will be an impossibility because wealth will be concentrated in the hands of a few. A Republic cannot stand upon bayonets, and when the day comes when the wealth of the nation will be in the hands of a few, then we must rely upon the wisdom of the best elements in the country to readjust the laws of the nations to the changed conditions.
James MadisonThe smaller the society, the fewer probably will be the distinct parties and interests composing it; the fewer the distinct parties and interests, the more frequently will a majority be found of the same party; . . . the more easily will they concert and execute their plans of oppression.
James MadisonThe security intended to the general liberty consists in the frequent election and in the rotation of the members of Congress.
James MadisonWhat a perversion of the normal order of things! ... to make power the primary and central object of the social system, and Liberty but its satellite.
James Madison