Our All is at Stake, and the little Conveniences and Comforts of Life, when set in Competition with our Liberty, ought to be rejected not with Reluct… - George Mason

I quitted my seat in the House of Delegates, from a Conviction that I was no longer able to do any essential Service.

There is a Passion natural to the Mind of man, especially a free Man, which renders him impatient of Restraint. Do you, does any sensible Man think that three or four Millions of People, not naturally defective in Genius, or in Courage, who have tasted the Sweets of Liberty in a Country that doubles it’s Inhabitants every twenty Years, in a Country abounding in such Variety of Soil & Climate, capable of producing not only the Necessarys, but the Conveniencys & Delicacys of Life, will long submit to Oppression; if unhappily for yourselves oppression should be offered them? Such another Experiment as the Stamp-Act wou’d produce a general Revolt in America.

To disarm the people — that was the best and most effective way to enslave them.