"This was the object of the Declaration of
Independence. Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before
thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to
place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm
as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we
are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment,
nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be
an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper
tone and spirit called for by the occasion."
--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Henry Lee, 1825
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