Franklin may . . . be considered one of the founding fathers of American democracy, since no democratic government can last long without conciliation and compromise.
Samuel Eliot MorisonIntellectual honesty is the quality that the public in free countries always has expected of historians; much more than that it does not expect, nor often get.
Samuel Eliot MorisonThe cruel policy initiated by Columbus and pursued by his successors resulted in complete genocide.
Samuel Eliot MorisonAmerica was named after a man who discovered no part of the New World. History is like that, very chancy.
Samuel Eliot MorisonSkepticism is an important historical tool. It is the starting point of all revision of hitherto accepted history.
Samuel Eliot MorisonMake no mistake; the American Revolution was not fought to obtain freedom, but to preserve the liberties that Americans already had as colonials. Independence was no conscious goal, secretly nurtured in cellar or jungle by bearded conspirators, but a reluctant last resort, to preserve "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Samuel Eliot Morison