The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot To Kill George Washington Quotes
"The mood is mostly festive. But the air is also charged with something else: that unique mix of anticipation and fear that comes with the feeling that the world is about to change, though no one knows quite how."
"Arguments over trade, taxes, and tariffs have turned into deep, irreconcilable grievances."
"Painful beyond expression have been those scenes of blood and devastation which the barbarous cruelty of British troops have placed before our eyes."
"Duty to God, to ourselves, to posterity, enforced by the cries of slaughtered innocents, have urged us to take up arms in our defense."
"As Thomas Paine will soon write: 'We have it in our power to begin the World over again.'"
"Such a simple idea today. But back then, this was a radical concept—and a dangerous one."
"I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."
"Their officers are generally speaking the most indifferent kind of people I ever saw."
"Could I have foreseen what I have and am like to experience, no consideration upon earth should have induced me to accept this command."
"The liberties of America depend upon him, in a great degree."
"For a long time, she was proof against every threat and persuasion, to discover the author."
"A reputation for integrity and honor is something you can take anywhere, and it will never let you down."
"The future is uncertain. Was this violence a local Boston skirmish or the start of a larger war?"
"The reflection on my situation, and that of this Army, produces many an unhappy hour, when all around me are wrapped in sleep."
"If we escape the Small Pox in this camp, & the country round about, it will be miraculous—Every precaution that can be, is taken to guard against this evil."
"Intelligence. Cunning. Secrecy. These are the tools of war."
"The propensity or rather rage for paying court to this great man, is inconceivable. They cannot be weaned from him. We must put wormwood on his paps or they will cry to suck, as they are in their second childhood."
"My feelings on this occasion are not to be expressed."
"I have dispatched General Lee with orders to repair to New York with such volunteers as he can raise on his way … to put the city & the fortifications up the river in the best posture of defence."
"It is in the clemency and authority of Great Britain only, under God, that we can look for happiness, peace, and protection."
"The citizens, as well as the inhabitants of the Province, may be assured of my inclination to embrace every means in my power to restore the peace, good order, and authority of Government."
"We have suffered prodigiously for want of wood. Many regiments have been obliged to eat their provisions raw for want of firing to cook."
"The consequences of the enemy’s possessing themselves of New York have appeared to me so terrible that I have scarcely been able to sleep from apprehensions on the subject."
"A continuance of the intercourse which has hitherto subsisted between the inhabitants of this colony, and the enemy on board the ships of war, is injurious to the common cause."
"[I am] relying upon your zeal and attachment to the cause of American liberty for your assistance in putting a stop to this evil."
"No inhabitant of this colony, upon any pretense, or for any purpose whatsoever, either in person or in writing, directly or indirectly, do presume to have or maintain any intercourse whatsoever with any ship or vessel belonging to or employed in the service of the King of Great Britain."
"If any person, or persons shall hereafter presume to have… any kind of correspondence whatsoever, or furnish and supply the said ships of war, and other vessels… they so offending will be deemed and considered as an enemy, or enemies to the rights of the said colonies, and if apprehended will be treated accordingly."
"We have all the reason… from the rage of disappointment and revenge, to expect the worst."
"To expect… the same service from raw and undisciplined recruits, as from veteran soldiers, is to expect what never did and perhaps never will happen."
"We expect a very bloody summer at New York, and I am sorry to say that we are not, either in men or arms, prepared for it."
"Occupied by the dirtiest men on the continent… if the owners ever get possession again, I am sure they may be years in cleaning them."
"That there has been a plan forming among our enemies in the colonies, is beyond doubt."
"The circumstances attending this affair are not yet fully known… but we think we know enough to convince us that a horrid plot is laid by the Tories to destroy the people of the country."
"Internal secret enemies are always more dangerous than avowed in the field."
"If our cause is just, as I do most religiously believe it to be, the same Providence which has in many instances appeared for us, will go on to afford its aid."
"We have nothing, my dear sir, to depend upon, but the protection of a kind Providence and unanimity amongst ourselves."
"Our affairs are hastening to a crisis, and the approaching campaign will in all probability determine forever the fate of America."
"I had no doubt when I left this city for Philadelphia but that some measures would have been taken to secure the suspected and dangerous persons of this Government before now."
"Esteeming it a pass of the utmost importance, I have ordered additional troops and fortifications to guard and otherwise bolster the defense of the bridge."
"The militia in the county have been called out so frequently for the purpose of quieting and apprehending disaffected persons."
"The glorious cause is just; that he is fighting for noble ideals; that the people of the colonies have placed their trust in him."
"That any others that have been pressed and made were made by Israel Young, or some of the others concerned."
"Great Britain has at last driven America, to the last step, a complete separation from her, a total absolute Independence, not only of her Parliament but of her Crown." - John Adams
"Objects of the most stupendous magnitude, and measures in which the lives and liberties of millions yet unborn are intimately interested, are now before us." - John Adams
"This day a most horrid plot was discovered, in the city and camp. A plan has been laid to massacre the generals of the army on the first approach of the enemy, to blow up the magazines, [and] spike the cannons." - Brig. Gen. William Heath
"Some days past, the General received information that a most horrid plot was on foot by the vile Tories of this place and the adjacent towns and villages." - Officer Samuel Blachley Webb
"Their design was upon the first engagement which took place, to have murdered (with trembling I say it) the best man on earth: General Washington was to have been the subject of their unheard of SACRICIDE." - Army Surgeon William Eustis
"I declare that I thought all London was afloat." - Continental Rifleman Daniel McCurtin, describing the arrival of British ships
"In about ten minutes the whole bay was full of ship[s] as ever it could be. I could not believe my eyes." - Daniel McCurtin
"The General hopes will be a warning to every soldier, in the army, to avoid those crimes, and all others, so disgraceful to the character of a soldier, and pernicious to his country." - General George Washington
"I am hopeful this example will produce many salutary consequences and deter others from entering into the like traitorous practices." - George Washington
"I was upstairs in an out-house and spied as I peeped out the bay something resembling a wood of pine trees trimmed... I could not believe my eyes." - Daniel McCurtin
"The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army."
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
"Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice, but a brave resistance or the most abject submission."
"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
"In our lowest moments, we can find our greatest strengths."