Enslave Quote by Mark Goodwin
““There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” -John Adams””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Letter to Thomas Jefferson, 1797
Power can be secured through force or financial control, with debt being a subtle, lasting method of domination.
In simple terms: Control can be achieved by war or by economic dependence.
Key Takeaway
Beware hidden financial leverage.
Themes
politics
economics
power
control
Mood
cautious
analytical
Type
political
historical
When to use this quote
- national policy
- foreign aid
- corporate lending
- personal finance
Key Concepts
sovereignty
debt
colonialism
Questions to Reflect On
- How does debt influence modern geopolitics?
- What safeguards protect against economic domination?
A Different Perspective
Debt can be harder to detect and resist than overt violence.
![“A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought [Tomas Jefferson and John Adams] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for the rest of their lives. But in their correspondence they tended to avoid the most controversial issues, such as slavery.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/be3/gordon-s-wood-13199_controversial_a-mutual-friend-benjamin-rush-brought-to_487463.jpg)
![“The economic answer to the world's problems is John Adams, not [Karl] Marx.” quote by John Ringo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ebe/john-ringo-22656_adams_the-economic-answer-to-the-world-s-probl_431873.jpg)
![“I think [John Adams] developed a much deeper suspicion of France and the other European powers than he had earlier. He lost much if not all of the utopian thinking about international politics and diplomacy expressed in his Model Treaty of 1776 and became much more cynical about the world.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ccc/gordon-s-wood-13199_cynical_i-think-john-adams-developed-a-much-deep_372770.jpg)
![“By 1782 [John Adams] had come to feel for [Benjamin] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/91d/gordon-s-wood-13199_abhorrence_by-1782-john-adams-had-come-to-feel-for_357591.jpg)
![“By the time [John Adams] came to write his Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787 he had as dark a view of the American character as that of any critic in our history.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d41/gordon-s-wood-13199_american-character_by-the-time-john-adams-came-to-write-his_314115.jpg)
