- John Adams Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 3, 1776

"If this be treason, make the most of it!"

Patrick Henry at the time of the Stamp Act in 1765.

"...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands....If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."

Abigail Adams in a letter to her husband, March 31, 1776.

"If our Trade be taxed, why not our Lands, or Produce… in short, everything we possess? They tax us without having legal representation."

Samuel Adams argued against taxation without representation after the Stamp Act of 1765.

"The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I AM NOT A VIRGINIAN, BUT AN AMERICAN!"

The fiery speaker, Patrick Henry declared the above in 1774 right after the Boston Tea Party. He was attempting to keep self-interest from destroying the common effort of some Americans.

"… the very tails of American sheep are so are so laden with wool that each sheep has little wagon to support its tail and to keep it from trailing on the ground."

This quote was written by Benjamin Franklin after "Braddock’s Defeat" in the London Chronicle. His purpose for saying this was to mock the English. It made the English mad and brought up several arguments about governing the colonies in America.

"… I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

This quote was said by Patrick Henry at a meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774. His purpose for saying this was to make the Americans fight for liberty and independence.

"Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

This quote was said by Captain John Parker after Paul Revere’s ride in April of 1775 in the town of Lexington. Parker did not want war, but if the British did, the Americans would fight.

"..Should the colonies send an army of two or three thousand man and attack Montreal, we should have little to fear from the Canadians or Indians, and would easily make a conquest of that place… "

This quote was written by Ethan Allen in 1775 after the war had begun. He wanted to fight the British and to tell his army that they shouldn’t be afraid of the Indians or the Canadians because they could defeat them. This made it impossible for restoration of harmony.

"I move that these united colonies ought to be free and independent…"

This quote was said by Richard Henry Lee in 1776 at the writing of the Deceleration of Independence.

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"…On our side, the war should be defensive… we are now in a [dangerous] position. Declining an engagement to flight may throw discouragement over the minds of many, but when the fate of America may be at Stake, we should continue the war as long as possible…"

This quote was written by George Washington in 1776. His purpose for saying this was to tell Congress that the only way that the small Continental Army could win was to fight defensively, and to attack only when victory was certain.

"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish."

John Adams said this in 1776 just before the the Declaration of Independence was written. He believed that the colonies must band together against the British.

"These are the times that try men’s souls…"

Thomas Paine wrote this in his pamphlet called "Common Sense". He was trying to persuade the Americans to demand independence, rather than try to patch up their differences with Great Britain.

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

This famous quote was said by Nathan Hale at the retreat of the British from New York in August of 1776. Nathan Hale was about to be hanged.

"May it please Your Honor, I surrounded them!"

This quote was said by Sam Clowney at the Battle of Camden. He said this because he was fooling five Tories into believing that he had a whole army with him.

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"Where a goat can go, a man can go; and where a man can go, he can drag a gun."

This quote was said by Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne at the Battle at Mount Defiance. He said this to encourage his troops to drag their cannons and weapons up Sugarloaf Mountain (Mount Defiance).

"…Let us die here rather than retreat."

This quote was said by Alexander Hamilton at the Battle of Monmouth. He said this to convince General Lee not to retreat and to feel hopeful for success. The British retreated and fled to New York.

"Tie up overcoats, pick touch-holes, fresh prime, and be ready to FIGHT!"

This quote was said by Ben Cleveland at the Battle of Kings Mountain. He said this as the Americans were setting out to fight the British--in order to prepare his men for battle. Cleveland's statement made the Americans aware of how badly Cleveland wanted to win this battle. The Americans surrounded the British and took six hundred prisoners.

"…I know the cause it desperate; but Sir, we must either quit the country or attack."

This quote was said by George Rogers Clark at the Battle of Vincennes in February of 1779. He was trying to convince Patrick Henry that Clark and his men must attack or give up completely. As a result, the Indians fled because they believed Clark had about a thousand men at the bottom of a hill.

"We prefer being colonized in the most remote corner of the land of our nativity, to being exiled to a foreign country."

James Forten in a letter to Paul Coffe, a Quaker who suggested that black Americans would be better off in Africa, 1817.

"Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country."

—Lafayette

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"Don't one of you fire until you see the whites of their eyes."

Colonel Samuel Prescott

Author of the gold & silver coin provision of the Constitution, wrote a scathing condemnation of paper money entitled,

"A CAVEAT AGAINST INJUSTICE" (caveat means warning) in which he stated: "If what is used as a Medium of Exchange is fluctuating in its Value, it is no better than unjust Weights & Measures, both which are condemned by the LAWS of GOD & MAN."

Roger Sherman

"A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,
With gold unfading,
Washington! be thine."

Phyllis Wheatley wrote this poem to express her patriotism and admiration of Washington.

"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."

Nathaniel Greene

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"I have not yet begun to fight!"

This quote was said by John Paul Jones at the battle between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis in September of 1779. His purpose for saying this was to show that he was not going to give up. The effect it had was the battle continued for two more hours and soon after that, the Serapis toppled into the water, forcing Pearson to surrender.

"I request you will witness to the world that I die like a brave man."

This quote was said by John André at the attack from West Point in August of 1780. He said this because he was hanged when he was pronounced a spy and even though he didn’t do the crime he didn’t fight to get free. It had a big effect on certain people. Sir Henry Clinton locked himself in his room for three days, and the English newspapers raged over the hanging. They called it murder.

"We began a contest for liberty ill provided with the means for the war, relying on our patriotism to supply the deficiency. We expected to encounter many wants and distressed… we must bear the present evils and fortitude…"

This quote was said by George Washington at the battle of West Point in 1781. He wrote this because he was telling the army and the people on the home front not to give up or lose heart in the battle.

"Nothing of importance happened today." ~~~~~ King George III in his diary - July 4, 1776

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"We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

~~~~~ Benjamin Franklin ~ At the Signing of The Declaration of Independence! ~~~~~

"Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people . . . . This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."

~~~~~ John Adams in 1818 ~~~~~

"The Temper and character which prevail in our colonies are, I am afraid, unalterable by any human art . . . An Englishman is the unfittest person on earth to argue another Englishman into slavery."

~~~~~ Edmund Burk - March 22, 1775 ~~~~~

"I cannot but lament . . . the impending Calamities Britain and her Colonies are about to suffer, from great Imprudencies on both Sides -- Passion governs, and she never governs wisely -- Anxiety begins to disturb my Rest . . . "

~~~~~ Benjamin Franklin - February 5, 1775 ~~~~~

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"There is an option still left to the United States of America, that it is in their choice and depends upon their conduct, whether they will be respectable and prosperous or contemptible and miserable as a Nation."

-- George Washington

"It is more honorable to repair a wrong than to persist in it."

-- Thomas Jefferson, to the Cherokee Chiefs, January 10, 1806

"Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have is this. When I have a subject in mind. I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it... the effort which I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought."

-- Alexander Hamilton

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"I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. The turkey is a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America."

-- Benjamin Franklin in a letter to Sarah Bache

"Let this sad tale of death never be told, without a tear; let not the heaving bosom cease to burn with a manly indignation at the relation of it, through the long tracks of future time; let every parent tell the shameful story to his listening children, till tears of pity glisten in their eyes, or boiling passion shakes their tender frames."

-- John Hancock in an address commemorating the Boston massacre

"As long as the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their Virtue they will be ready to surrender their Liberties to the first external or internal invader...If Virtue and Knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great Security."

-- Samuel Adams, 1779

"People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity."

-- John Adams

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined."

-- Patrick Henry, during Virginia's Convention to Ratify the Constitution (1788)

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"All societies of men must be governed is some way or other. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet."

-- Robert Winthrop

"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property . . . Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."

-- Thomas Paine, Thoughts on Defensive War (1775).

"The ultimate authority ... resides in the people alone."

-- James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, in Federalist Paper No. 46.

"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."

-- Edmund Burke (1784).  

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