"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.
"A true patriot as well as a genuine leader must always take the higher ground of God's law when confronted with the evils of man's law.
"Government is not the enemy, for it is ordained of God. The enemy to freedom is tyrannical government that presumes to take the place of God."
Patrick Henry
"In the discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements by which they may terminate the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. "
-- James Monroe, speech to the US Congress on December 2, 1823