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Quote from John Adams,


"If Aristotle, Livy, and Harrington knew what a republic was, the British constitution is much more like a republic than an empire. They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men. If this definition is just, the British constitution is nothing more or less than a republic, in which the king is first magistrate. This office being hereditary, and being possessed of such ample and splendid prerogatives, is no objection to the government's being a republic, as long as it is bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to defend."



By:

John Adams (more quotes by John Adams or books by/about John Adams)


(1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President

Source:

Novanglus, in Boston Gazette, 6Mar1775, Adams Papers, V II, p. 314

Categories:

America, Constitution, Law, Republic, Sovereignty

Rating:

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