Elbridge Gerry: Letter to the Massachusetts Legislature on the U.S. Constitution - Milestone Documents

Elbridge Gerry: Letter to the Massachusetts Legislature on the U.S. Constitution

( 1787 ) Commentary by Kirk H. Beetz, UC Davis, Emeritus
  • “It was painful to me, on a subject of such national importance, to differ from the respectable members who signed the constitution: But conceiving as I did, that the liberties of America were not secured by the system, it was my duty to oppose it.” - Letter to the Massachusetts Legislature on the U.S. Constitution
  • “It may be urged by some that an implicit confidence should be placed in the Convention: But, however respectable the members may be who signed the Constitution, it must be admitted, that a free people are the proper guardians of their rights and liberties—that the greatest men may err—and that their errors are sometimes of the greatest magnitude.” - Letter to the Massachusetts Legislature on the U.S. Constitution
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Elbridge Gerry (Library of Congress)

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