Tag Archives: Thoughts on Government (1776)

First Principles: If There Is A Form of Government, Then, Whose Principle and Foundation Is Virtue, Will Not Every Sober Man Acknowledge It Better Calculated To Promote the General Happiness Than Any Other Form

“If there is a form of government, then, whose principle and foundation is virtue, will not every sober man acknowledge it better calculated to promote the general happiness than any other form?” – John Adams (1776), in Thoughts On Government

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First Principles: The People Alone Have the Incontestable…Right to Institute Government; and To Reform, Alter, or Totally Change the Same, When Their Protection, Safety, Prosperity and Happiness Require It

“…(T)he people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it.” – John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776

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