[m]en Will Be Free No Longer Then

Every One Knows That The Exercise Of Military Power Is Forever Dangerous To Civil Rights; And We Have Had Recent Instances Of Violences That Have Been Offer'd To Private Subjects.

The Utopian Schemes Of Leveling And A Community Of Goods, Are As Visionary And Impractical As Those Which Vest All Property In The Crown. These Ideas Are Arbitrary, Despotic, And, In Our Government Unconstitutional.

It Is Always Dangerous To The Liberties Of The People To Have An Army Stationed Among Them, Over Which They Have No Control ... The Militia Is Composed Of Free Citizens. There Is Therefore No Danger Of Their Making Use Of Their Power To The Destruction Of Their Own Rights, Or Suffering Others To Invade Them.

The Right To Freedom Being The Gift Of God, It Is Not In The Power Of Man To Alienate This Gift And Voluntarily Become A Slave.

What Has Commonly Been Called Rebellion Has More Often Been Nothing But A Manly And Glorious Struggle In Opposition To The Lawless Power Of Rebellious Kings And Princes.