“[T]hat important and respectable, though small and sometimes neglected establishment, which is denominated a family…[The family is] the principle of the community; it is that seminary, on which the commonwealth, for its manners as well as its numbers, must ultimately depend. As its establishment is the source, so its happiness is the end, of every institution of government, which is wise and good.”  – James Wilson

The Works of James Wilson, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and Professor of Law in the College of Philadelphia, “Natural Rights of Individuals,” p. 333

For a great read as to what the Founding Fathers thought about the role of the institutions of marriage and family in our republic and in any and all good government, please see:

http://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/the-true-origin-society-the-founders-the-family#_ftnref4