Patrick Henry on the Constitution

The Constitution is not an instrument for government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and our interests.

~ Patrick Henry

Lord Acton on federation and democracy

Of all the checks on democracy, federation has been the most efficacious and the most congenial . . . . . The federal system limits and restrains the sovereign power by dividing it and assigning to Government only certain defined rights. It is the only method of curbing not only the majority but the power of the whole people.

~ Lord Acton