“The people are the government, administering it by their agents; they are the Government, the sovereign power.”

Quoted in The Many Faces of Alexander Hamilton https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0814707246: The Life and Legacy of America's Most Elusive Founding Father, Ambrose & Martin, NYU Press (2007), p. 32
1830s

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Andrew Jackson 41
American general and politician, 7th president of the Unite… 1767–1845

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“In my opinion, this sovereign must be the National Government.”

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“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

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Source: The Federalist Papers
Context: If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

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