The Natural Cure for an Ill-Administration…

Alexander Hamilton

“The natural cure for an ill-administration, in a popular or representative constitution, is a change of men.” — Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 21, 1787

A Sacred Respect for the Constitutional Law is the Vital Principle…

Alexander Hamilton

“A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.” — Alexander Hamilton, Essay in the American Daily Advertiser, 1794

A Fondness for Power is Implanted in Most Men

Alexander Hamilton

“A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired.” — Alexander Hamilton

The Law of Nature and Natural Rights

Alexander Hamilton

“To grant that there is a supreme intelligence Who rules the world and has established laws to regulate the actions of His creatures; and still to assert that man, in a state of nature, may be considered as perfectly free from all restraints of law and government, appears to a common understanding altogether irreconcilable. Good and wise men, in all ages, have embraced a very dissimilar theory. They have supposed that the Deity, from the relations we stand in to Himself and to each other, has constituted an eternal and immutable law, which is indispensably obligatory upon all mankind, prior to any human institution whatever. This is what is called the law of nature…. Upon this law depend the natural rights of mankind.” — Alexander Hamilton

The Natural Cure for an Ill-Administration…

Alexander Hamilton

“The natural cure for an ill-administration, in a popular or representative constitution, is a change of men.” — Alexander Hamilton

The Most Sacred Duty – Respect for the Constitution and Laws

Alexander Hamilton

“If it be asked, ‘What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic?’ The answer would be, ‘An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws — the first growing out of the last, a sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.’” ―Alexander Hamilton, Essay in the American Daily Advertiser (1794-08-28)

The Consent of the People

Alexander Hamilton

“Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it. The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 22, December 14, 1787