“Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”
“Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.”
“Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also must be obedient.”—Quotations from The Bible.
“The capacity of the people for self government, and their willingness, ... to submit to all needful restraints, and exactions of municipal law, have been favorably exemplified in the history of the American States.”—Martin Van Buren.
“Let us have faith that right makes might and in that faith let us to the end dare do our duty as we understand it.”—Abraham Lincoln.
“Surely I do not misinterpret the spirit of the occasion when I assume that the whole body of the people convenant with me today to support and defend the Constitution and ... to yield a willing obedience to all the laws, and each to every other citizen his equal civil and political liberty.”—Benj. Harrison.
“Patriotism calls for the faithful performance of all the duties of citizenship in small matters as well as great, at home as well as on tented fields.”—William J. Bryan.
There are four general theories as to the origin of the Constitution of the United States: (1) That it was an entirely new document. This theory was inspired by the statement of Gladstone. People who heard Mr. Gladstone or read of his comment on the Constitution misinterpreted his saying and came to believe he meant that that great Constitution was the work of the moment as conceived by the men in the convention at Philadelphia. No one knew better than Mr. Gladstone himself that such was not true. (2) That it was copied almost entirely after the English constitution of that time. This was the theory of Sir Henry Maine, and it was just as erroneous as was the common acceptance of Gladstone's statement. There are many things in the Constitution of the United States that were not in the English constitution of that time. (3) That it was based entirely upon the experience of the colonists themselves. This theory is also incorrect as the facts show that many fundamentals of the Constitution were copied directly from the governments of European countries. (4) That it was due to all the above influences taken together, but that they were worked out by the colonists and the Constitution makers in their many years of experience in making Constitutions for the States after their independence from England, and during the time of the Confederation.
A careful study of the debates in the convention at Philadelphia will reveal the fact that the different governments, institutions, rulers, and statesmen of Europe were referred to in the making of the Constitution.
During the discussions in the convention one hundred and thirty allusions were made to the government and institutions of England. The allusions made to France numbered nineteen. Those made to the German States were seventeen. Those made to Holland were nineteen. Greece was referred to thirteen times; Switzerland was alluded to five times; and Rome was alluded to sixteen times.