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Constitution Quotes by James Madison

102 Constitution quotes by James Madison

All Constitution quotes James Madison’s page

James Madison writes about how the Constitution gives the national government only a few clear powers, while most powers stay with the states. He says the document’s goal is to keep the majority from hurting minorities. He also reminds readers that the real foundation is the higher law that inspired the Constitution.

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Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.

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The Constitution of the U.S. forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion.

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The Convention thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be property in men.

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The express authority of the people alone could give validity to the Constitution.

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A President is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution.

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No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment…

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To consider the degree of concord which ultimately prevailed as less than a miracle.

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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

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In all the co-temporary discussions and comments, which the Constitution underwent, it was constantly justified and recommended on the ground, that the…

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The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the…

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I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on…

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Liberty and order will never be perfectly safe, until a trespass on the constitutional provisions for either, shall be felt with the…

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I consider the difference between a system founded on the legislatures only, and one founded on the people, to be the true…

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The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is…

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I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation.…

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Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by…

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Whatever may be the judgement pronounced on the competency of the architects of the Constitution, or whatever may be the destiny of…

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Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by…

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Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia, doth unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend the Constitution of the United…

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“In framing a system which we wish to last for ages, we shd. not lose sight of the changes which ages will…

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I consider it…as subverting the fundamental and characteristic principle of the Government…and as bidding defiance to the sense in which the Constitution…

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[T]he great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department consists in giving to those who administer…

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And may I not be allowed to ... read in the character of the American people, in their devotion to true liberty…

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Those who proposed the Constitution knew, and those who ratified the Constitution also knew that this is...a limited government tied down to…

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May it not be asked of every intelligent friend to the liberties of his country, whether the power exercised in such an…

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The Constitution expressly and exclusively vests in the Legislature the power of declaring a state of war [and] the power of raising…

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[T]he bill exceeds the rightful authority to which governments are limited by the essential distinction between civil and religious functions, and violates…

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The proposed constitution, therefore, even when tested by the rules laid down by its antagonists, is, in strictness, neither a national nor…

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There is one view of the subject which ought to have its influence on those who espouse doctrines which strike at the…

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The preservation of a free government requires not merely that the metes and bounds which separate each department of power be invariably…

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What is to be the consequence, in case the Congress shall misconstrue this part [the necessary and proper clause] of the Constitution…

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To the Baptist Churches on Neal's Greek on Black Creek, North Carolina I have received, fellow-citizens, your address, approving my objection to…

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The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority.

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No power over the freedom of religion [is] delegated to the United States by the Constitution.

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Our Constitution represents the work of the finger of Almighty God.

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The proposed Constitution is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal constitution; but a composition of both.

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[N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

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The Federal Constitution forms a happy combination in this respect; the great and aggregate interests being referred to the national, the local…

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The Constitution of the United States was created by the people of the United States composing the respective states, who alone had…

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Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end…

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More by James Madison

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…

Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty, may have found an established Clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just Government instituted to secure & perpetuate…

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments…

How could a readiness for war in time of peace be safely prohibited, unless we could prohibit, in like manner, the preparations and establishments…

The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…

It is certain that every class is interested in [educational] establishments which give to the human mind its highest improvements, and to every Country…

Since it is impossible for the people spontaneously and universally, to move in concert towards their object; and it is therefore essential, that such…

The definition of the right of suffrage is very justly regarded as a fundamental article of republican government.

The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.

They can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass…

The effect of a representative democracy is to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body…

“... But besides the danger of a direct mixture of Religion & civil Government , there is an evil which ought to be guarded…

Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant--they have been cheated; asleep--they have been surprised;…

“It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government…

The better proof of reverence for that holy name would be not to profane it by making it a topic of legislative discussion…