“ An exasperated people, who feel that they possess power, are not easily restrained within limits strictly regular. ”
Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Jefferson |
|---|---|
| Source | A Summary View of the Rights of British America |
| Topic | power limit |
| Date | 1774 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jeffsumm.asp |
Context
“In the province of New England alone the remonstrances of the people were disregarded, and a compliance, after being many days waited for, was flatly refused. Whether in this the master of the vessel was governed by his obstinancy, or his instructions, let those who know, say. There are extraordinary situations which require extraordinary interposition. An exasperated people, who feel that they possess power, are not easily restrained within limits strictly regular. A number of them assembled in the town of Boston, threw the tea into the ocean, and dispersed without doing any other act of violence. If in this they did wrong, they were known and were amenable to the laws of the land, against which it could not be objected that they had ever, in any instance, been obstructed or diverted from their regular course in favour of popular offenders.”
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