Sparks Commentary

Long before I watched this film, I watched another PBS documentary about  Benjamin Franklin . This earlier film was by Muffie Meyer, who has...

“We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in a...

“An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America , towards furth...

“If War should break out between France and Great Britain, during the continuance of the present War between the United States and England...

“... That the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the ...

“The Stile of this Confederacy shall be ' The United States of America '.” – Article I of the “Articles of Confederation and per...

When the Founding Fathers wrote the original Constitution in 1787, they were creating a document that would change everything in America, ...

“That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights , of which, when they enter into a state of...

"It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to ...

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them wi...

"The ratification of the conventions of  nine states , shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between the sta...

"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the ...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalie...

"[The Americans] accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society. They reared the fabrics of governmen...

"Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country ...

"There is an elegant memorial in Washington to Jefferson, but none to Hamilton. However, if you seek Hamilton's monument, look ar...

"The enumeration [or "listing"] in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others ...

"Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present generation, to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use o...

"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union , establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide...