1. “ Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Assemblies, Judges, and Governors, shall all become wolves.” ~Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edward Carrington, January 16, 1787

2. “ If a nation expects to be ignorant – and free – in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” ~Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Colonel Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816

3. “ On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” ~Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823

4. “ Your love of liberty – your respect for the laws – your habits of industry – and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness.” ~George Washington, letter to the residents of Boston, October 27, 1789

5. “ A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. 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, letter to W.T. Barry, August 4, 1822

6. "Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." ~James Madison, Virginia Convention on the ratification of the Constitution, June 6, 1788

7. "The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." ~George Washington, First Inaugural Address, 1789