Shall Liberty or Empire be Sought? - Patrick Henry, 1788
Lysander Spooner
Samuel Adams
The Virginia Anti-Federalists
Nassau's Difficult Birth
Norfolk Island Amendment Bill 1999
Mexico’s independence from Spanish rule
"I believe in the infallibility, all-sufficient wisdom, and
infinite goodness of the late convention; or in other words, I
believe that some men are of so perfect a nature that it is
absolutely impossible for them to commit errors or design
villainy.
I believe that the great body of the people are incapable of
judging in their nearest concerns, and that, therefore, they
ought to be guided by the opinions of their superiors . . . I
believe that aristocracy is the best form of government . . . I
believe that trial by jury and the freedom of the press ought
to be exploded from every wise of government . . . I believe
that the new constitution will prove the bulwark of liberty ---
the balm of misery --- the essence of justice --- and the
astonishment of mankind.
In short, I believe that it is the best form of government
which has ever been offered to the world.
I believe that to speak, write, read, think, or hear any
thing against the proposed government is damnable heresy,
execrable rebellion, and high treason against the sovereign
majesty of the convention --- And lastly I believe that every
person who differs from me in belief is an infernal villain.
AMEN."
This is the impression the Federalist authors of the
constitution gave their opponents. It was written by an
anti-Federalist in 1788, and quoted from "An Economic
Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States",
by Charles Beard (the Free Press, 1986).
