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Quotes on the
Unites States
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The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions
is, that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.
"Advice to My Country"
(Madison,
1865, IV, following page 436)
[T]he destiny of the United States [is] to be a great,
a flourishing, and a powerful nation…
State of the Union, December 1813
The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution
a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout
the world. Woe to the ambition that would meditate the destruction
of either!
Outline, September 1829, (Madison,
1865, IV, page 20)
[T]he Union of so many States is in the eyes of a world,
a wonder; the harmonious establishment of a government over
them all, a miracle.
Speech in the Virginia State Convention
of 1829-'30, December 2, 1829 (Madison,
1865, IV, pages 54-55)
As the people of the United States enjoy the great merit
of having established a system of Government on the basis
of human rights, and of giving it a form without example,
which, as they believe, unites the greatest national strength
with the best security for public order and individual liberty,
they owe to themselves, to their posterity and to the world,
a preservation of the system in its purity, its symmetry,
and its authenticity.
Supplement to the letter of November
27, 1830, to A. Stevenson (Madison,
1865, IV, page 138)
I am among those who are most anxious for the preservation
of the Union of the States, and for the success of the Constitutional
experiment of which it is the basis. We owe it to ourselves,
and to the world, to watch, to cherish, and as far as possible,
to perfect a new modification of the powers of Government,
which aims at the better security against external danger
and internal disorder, a better provision for national strength
and individual rights, than had been exemplified under any
previous form.
Letter to Andrew Bigelow, undated
1831 (Madison,
IV, page 191)
If the States cannot live together in
harmony under the auspices of such a Government as exists,
and in the midst of blessings such as have been the fruits
of it, what is the prospect threatened by an abolition of
a common government, with all the rivalships, collisions,
and animosities inseparable from such an event?
Letter to Mathew Carey, July 27,
1831 (Madison,
IV, page 192)
Whilst it must be flattering to both nations
[Great Britain and U.S.] to contemplate the progress of covering
with their posterity and their language a greater space on
the earth than any other language, it is obvious that a few
years will tranfer the ascendency to the Unites States…
Letter to William S. Cardell, May__,
1820 (Madison,
III, page 172)
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