John Quincy Adams: Jubilee of the Constitution Address

( 1839 ) Commentary by M. Philip Lucas, Cornell College

“The Declaration of Independence proclaims the natural rights of man, and the constituent power of the people to be the only sources of legitimate government. State sovereignty is a mere argument of power, without regard to right—a mere reproduction of the omnipotence of the British parliament in another form, and therefore not only inconsistent with, but directly in opposition to, the principles of the Declaration of Independence.” - Jubilee of the Constitution Address
“That the Constitution of the United States was a return to the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and the exclusive constituent power of the people. That it was the work of the ONE PEOPLE of the United States; and that those United States, though doubled in numbers, still constitute as a nation, but ONE PEOPLE.” - Jubilee of the Constitution Address

John Quincy Adams (Library of Congress)

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