Oh, how wretched should I be at this moment, if I had not made my peace with God.

The American Revolution was the grand operation, which seemed to be assigned by the Deity to the men of this age in our country, over and above the common duties of life

That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of the conscience; and it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.

We should transmit to posterity our abhorrence of slavery.

Perfect freedom is as necessary to the health and vigor of commerce as it is to the health and vigor of citizenship.

My political curiosity, exclusive of my anxious solicitude for the public welfare, leads me to ask who authorized them (the framers of the Constitution) to speak the language of 'We, the People,' instead of 'We, the States'?