72 Founding Fathers Quotes About the Concept of Freedom that Shaped the USA
The Founding Fathers or simply the Fathers of the United States is a name given to the American leaders and revolutionaries who united the thirteen colonies, shaping them into a new nation, initiated and led the war effort of independence from Great Britain and framed the Constitution of the United States, a landmark document that steers the country to this day. Although there is no unanimous consensus on who should be included in the list, the following seven are revered as the most prominent Founding Fathers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, John Jay and James Madison. As an act of gratitude and respect for these iconic and charismatic leaders, here we have curated for you the most inspirational Founding Fathers quotes.
Influenced by the rationalism of European Enlightenment, the Founding Fathers drew upon the works of British philosopher John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu, to forge the shape of a new, different nation on the fundamental principles of justice, equality, natural rights, freedom and liberty. To safeguard against abuse of power and authority, they established a republican form of government where power was divided into three distinct branches—legislative, executive and judicial.
As regards the moral foundation of the new nation, the Fathers acknowledged the importance of religion, however, aware of the results of the centuries’ long involvement of the church into politics, the corruption of the clergy and the religious wars that troubled Europe for more than a century, the Fathers were skeptical about adopting Christianity as a national religion, so they separated church and state and allowed Americans religious freedom.
Share these quotes with friends and family in order to enlighten them! Reflect upon them and let these words of wisdom inspire greatness and mentor you through your path to a better life!
Table of Contents
- Best Founding Fathers Quotes
- Founding Fathers Quotes on Freedom and Tyranny
- Founding Fathers Quotes on Slavery
- Quotes by the USA Founding Fathers on Religion
Best Founding Fathers Quotes
A library of the Founding Fathers’ most insightful quotes, that allow you to glimpse into their thoughts and beliefs, in order to appreciate the courage of these men to risk everything for their ideals!
- If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. James Madison
- Take not from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. Thomas Jefferson
- They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin
- But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. John Adams
- I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson
- Distrust naturally creates distrust, and by nothing is good will and kind conduct more speedily changed. John Jay
- A government of laws, and not of men. John Adams
- The people are the only legitimate fountain of power. James Madison
- Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson
- He that cannot obey, cannot command. Benjamin Franklin
- If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking. Benjamin Franklin
- The past beats inside me like a second heart. John Banville
- Learn to think continentally. Alexander Hamilton
- The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die. George Washington
- The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. Thomas Jefferson
- Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. George Washington
- It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. Benjamin Franklin
- Always stand on principle…even if you stand alone. John Adams
- The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty. James Madison
- Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. James Madison
- Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do. Benjamin Franklin
- To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions. Benjamin Franklin
- Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Benjamin Franklin
- A candle loses nothing when it lights another candle. Thomas Jefferson
- Those who own the country ought to govern it. John Jay
- I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. Thomas Jefferson
- Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. Benjamin Franklin
- If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done. Thomas Jefferson
- Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. James Madison
- Whenever you do something, act as if all the world were watching. Thomas Jefferson
- Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin
Founding Fathers Quotes on Freedom and Tyranny
The Fathers envisioned the United States as a land of freedom, and in order to avoid the tyranny that would result from a government abusing its authority, they contained the government’s power. Should that power become destructive of the rights of its people, it is the duty of the people to abolish it.
- Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth. George Washington
- Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. Benjamin Franklin
- I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man. Thomas Jefferson
- I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. James Madison
- The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite. Thomas Jefferson
- Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost. Thomas Jefferson
- Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. Thomas Jefferson
- The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Thomas Jefferson
Founding Fathers Quotes on Slavery
The Fathers where wealthy businessmen and plantation owners and although they knew that slavery was incompatible with their ideals, they never made a bold move about it but subordinated the issue for the sake of the nation’s unity.
- I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery. Thomas Jefferson
- I wish from my soul that the legislature of this State could see a policy of a gradual Abolition of Slavery. George Washington
- Where slavery exists the republic theory becomes still more fallacious. James Madison
- Prior to the great Revolution, the great majority . . . of our people had been so long accustomed to the practice and convenience of having slaves that very few among them even doubted the propriety and rectitude of it. John Jay
- Slaves rather weaken than strengthen the state, and there is therefore some difference between them and sheep; sheep will never make any insurrections. Benjamin Franklin
- Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils. Benjamin Franklin
- I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery. George Washington
- Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States…. I have, throughout my whole life, held the practice of slavery in… abhorrence. John Adams
- The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case. Thomas Paine
Quotes by the USA Founding Fathers on Religion
Although the Fathers were Christians they had adopted a more liberal idea of God, based on what was rational rather than dogmatic.
- The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries. James Madison
- This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it. John Adams
- We recognize no sovereign but God, and no king but Jesus! John Adams
- Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. John Adams
- The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity. John Adams
- The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for creeds, confessions, oaths, doctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity. John Adams
- The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity. John Adams
- The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. Benjamin Franklin
- Lighthouses are more helpful than churches. Benjamin Franklin
- I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life, I absenteed myself from Christian assemblies. Benjamin Franklin
- Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshiped. Benjamin Franklin
- Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law. Thomas Jefferson
- Erecting the ‘wall of separation between church and state’… is absolutely essential in a free society. Thomas Jefferson
- Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty, may have found an established Clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just Government instituted to secure & perpetuate it needs them not. James Madison
- There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. Thomas Jefferson
- I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. Thomas Jefferson
- In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. Thomas Jefferson
- The God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Thomas Jefferson
- Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society. George Washington
- Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can exist apart from religious principle. George Washington
- I beg you be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution. George Washington
- The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy. George Washington
- It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors. George Washington
- For my part, I sincerely esteem the Constitution, a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests. Alexander Hamilton
The Founding Fathers defined the spirit and values that shaped the United States, and supplied the necessary material to loom the fabric of the American way for future generations. In an era of turmoil and radical change, these chief architects managed what had only been dreamed of in Europe. They left a unique legacy in world history and provided a blueprint and a model of governance for other democracies to follow.
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