--- title: "3 Bill of rights Quotes By Howard Zinn" description: "3 Bill of rights quotes by Howard Zinn. Plus more from Howard Zinn and more Bill of rights sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/howard-zinn-576_bill-of-rights_during-elections-for-the-1776-convention_433503.jpg" --- > [“During elections for the 1776 convention to frame a constitution for Pennsylvania, a Privates Committee urged voters to oppose “great and overgrown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/during-elections-for-the-1776-convention-to-frame-a-constitution-for/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/howard-zinn-576_bill-of-rights_during-elections-for-the-1776-convention_433503.jpg) > [“The Constitution became even more acceptable to the public at large after the first Congress, responding to criticism, passed a series of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-constitution-became-even-more-acceptable-to-the-public-at-large/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a3/howard-zinn-576_bill-of-rights_the-constitution-became-even-more-accept_542029.jpg) > [“I was astonished, bewildered. This was America, a country where, whatever its faults, people could speak, write, assemble, demonstrate without fear. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-was-astonished-bewildered-this-was-america-a-country-where-whatever/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/howard-zinn-576_american-democracy_i-was-astonished-bewildered-this-was-ame_547508.jpg) ## Other authors on Bill of rights - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-jefferson-90435.jpg) Thomas Jefferson 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/thomas-jefferson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-william-j-clinton-95571.jpg) William J. Clinton 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/william-j-clinton/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-robert-h-jackson-79812.jpg) Robert H. Jackson 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/robert-h-jackson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rand-paul-77216.jpg) Rand Paul 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/rand-paul/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-nat-hentoff-70269.jpg) Nat Hentoff 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/nat-hentoff/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alan-buckley-10272.jpg) Hugo Black 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/hugo-black/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bill-maher-17979.jpg) Bill Maher 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/bill-maher/) ## More by Howard Zinn > [“A black man, Benjamin Banneker, who taught himself mathematics and astronomy, predicted accurately a solar eclipse, and was appointed to plan the new city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-black-man-benjamin-banneker-who-taught-himself-mathematics-and/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/there-is-no-flag-large-enough-to-cover-the-shame-of-killing-innocent/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“a good education is a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, because each enrich the other. The accumulation of knowledge, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-good-education-is-a-synthesis-of-book-learning-and-involvement-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction-so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-mountain-of-history-books-under-which-we-all-stand-leans-so/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Let's face a historical truth: we have never had a "free market", we have always had government intervention in the economy, and indeed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/let-s-face-a-historical-truth-we-have-never-had-a-free-market-we-have/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [I can UNDERSTAND pessimism, but I don't BELIEVE in it. It's not simply a matter of faith, but of historical EVIDENCE. Not overwhelming evidence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-can-understand-pessimism-but-i-don-t-believe-in-it-it-s-not-simply/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. It is a corrective to the sluggishness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/protest-beyond-the-law-is-not-a-departure-from-democracy-it-is/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded--maybe you wouldn't, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/now-i-have-been-studying-very-closely-what-happens-every-day-in-the/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [They were not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, they were absent in the Constitution and they were invisible in the new political democracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/they-were-not-mentioned-in-the-declaration-of-independence-they-were/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Sexual purity was to be the special virtue of a woman. It was assumed that men, as a matter of biological nature, would sin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/sexual-purity-was-to-be-the-special-virtue-of-a-woman-it-was-assumed/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Middle-class Americans might be invited to join a new elite by attacks against the corruption of the established rich. The New Yorker Cadwallader Colden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/middle-class-americans-might-be-invited-to-join-a-new-elite-by/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/if-those-in-charge-of-our-society-politicians-corporate-executives/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/we-were-not-born-critical-of-existing-society-there-was-a-moment-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Behind the deceptive words designed to entice people into supporting violence -- words like democracy, freedom, self-defense, national security -- there is the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/behind-the-deceptive-words-designed-to-entice-people-into-supporting/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“George Washington had turned down the requests of blacks, seeking freedom, to fight in the Revolutionary army. So when the British military commander in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/george-washington-had-turned-down-the-requests-of-blacks-seeking/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bill-of-rights/howard-zinn/#itemlist", "name": "3 Bill of rights Quotes By Howard Zinn", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“During elections for the 1776 convention to frame a constitution for Pennsylvania, a Privates Committee urged voters to oppose “great and overgrown rich men . . . they will be too apt to be framing distinctions in society.” The Privates Committee drew up a bill of rights for the convention, including the statement that “an enormous proportion of property vested in a few individuals is dangerous to the rights, and destructive of the common happiness, of mankind; and therefore every free state hath a right by its laws to discourage the possession of such property.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Howard Zinn" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/during-elections-for-the-1776-convention-to-frame-a-constitution-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/howard-zinn-576_bill-of-rights_during-elections-for-the-1776-convention_433503.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/howard-zinn-576_bill-of-rights_during-elections-for-the-1776-convention_433503.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1f/howard-zinn-576_bill-of-rights_during-elections-for-the-1776-convention_433503.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“During elections for the 1776 convention to frame a constitution for Pennsylvania, a Privates Committee…” — Howard Zinn", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Constitution became even more acceptable to the public at large after the first Congress, responding to criticism, passed a series of amendments known as the Bill of Rights. 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