With the Constitution in the news on a daily, or if you’re a news junkie like us, hourly basis, we thought it would be timely to share some quotes about this venerable 232 year-old document by those who were in the room (Washington summoned the Constitutional convention after a former Revolutionary War soldier started a rebellion—protesting taxes; Franklin was the oldest representative and had been trying to unite the former colonies/current states for decades; Hamilton and Madison, along with John Jay, wrote The Federalist Papers in ardent support of the Constitution, and Madison coached the whole team for the win). We also included a couple who weren’t in the room (Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence ten years prior, was serving as the American ambassador in Paris, where he was wined and dined because the French were trying to seduce him politically, and insisted that the Bill of Rights be tacked on; and John Adams was serving as the U.S. representative to England, where, as you can imagine, he was constantly humiliated and intimidated because the English were sore losers!)

You can find these and other fascinating tidbits about the foundational document of the United States, as well as a complete guide to our government in our essential book, The U.S. Constitution: An Owner’s Guide.

“The Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon.”
—George Washington

“Our new Constitution is now established. Everything seems to
promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain
except death and taxes.”
—Ben Franklin

“An inviolable respect for the Constitution is the vital
principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.”
—Alexander Hamilton

“I sincerely rejoice at the acceptance of our new Constitution.
It is a good canvas on which some strokes only want retouching.”
—Thomas Jefferson

“We have no government, armed with power, capable of
contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and
religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would
break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes
through a net.”
—John Adams

“The language of our Constitution is already undergoing
interpretations unknown to its founders.”
—James Madison