It may be regarded as certain that not a foot of land will ever be taken from the Indians without their own consent.
Interpretation
The land rights of the Indigenous people should be respected and can only be ceded willingly.
Thomas Jefferson's quote emphasizes the importance of consent in the relationship between settlers and Indigenous populations. It suggests that any transfer of land must be done with the agreement of the Indigenous people, recognizing their rights and agency in the matter. This statement reflects an acknowledgment of the ethical principles surrounding land ownership and respect for the original inhabitants of the land.
In practice
In a discussion about land rights in legal studies, one might quote Jefferson to emphasize the necessity of consent in agreements.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
[For constructive conflict,] we have to resist the neurobiological drive which means that we really prefer people mostly like ourselves.
How true, how true" said the Sour Kangaroo, "And from now on, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to protect them with you!" And the Young Kangaroo in her pouch said "Me too!
Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person's throat.
Empathy is about standing in someone else's shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.
Don't try to change anybody. And they should let you be yourself, 'You loved me when you met me, so let's keep going!'
There are three rings involved with marriage. The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering.
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