D. Reason, Truth and Mankind
U.S. Founders, in general, thought of reason and truth as something universal that belongs to all mankind.
1. Dryden (1631-1700) introduction to Plutarch
“…reason, as far as it is right, must be the same in all men; and truth being but one, they (wise men in all ages) must consequently think in the same train.” [R431v1 p xx]
2. John Locke (1632-1704)
“To love truth for truth’s sake is the principle part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues.” [B225 p468]
“He that would seriously set upon the search for truth ought in the first place to prepare his mind for a love of it” [B20 p288]
3. Bolingbroke (1678-1751)
“The true art of thinking must be the same among all mankind.…The advancement of knowledge, and the improvement of reason are of common concern to all rational creatures. We are all of the same country in these respects: and he who thinks and acts otherwise is a promoter of faction in the great common-wealth of learning.” [R225v3 p318]
4. 1711 May 19, Joseph Addison (1672-1719): The Spectator: World Citizen
“There is no Place in the Town which I so much love to frequent as the RoyalExchange.…so rich an Assembly of Countrymen and Foreigners consulting together upon the private Business of Mankind, and making this Metropolis a kind of Emporium for the whole earth.…I look upon High Change to be a great Council, in which all considerable Nations have their Representatives.…they are distinguished by their different Walks and different Languages;…I… fancy myself to be like the old philosopher (Diogenese), who upon being asked what Countryman he was, replied, That he was a Citizen of the World.…As I am a great Lover of Mankind, my Heart naturally overflows with Pleasure at the Sight of a prosperous and happy Multitude,…” [B496 p117-121]
5. 1759 Summer: John Adams (1735-1826)
“Law is human Reason. It governs all the Inhabitants of the Earth; the political and civil Laws of each Nation should be only the particular Cases, in which human Reason is applied.” [B19v1 p117]
6. 1775 Alexander Hamilton
“The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole "volume" of human nature, by the hand of divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.” [B140 p188]
7. 1776 Thomas Paine, Common Sense
“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances …arise…which are universal and through which the principles of all Lovers of Mankind are affected,…” [B47 p11]
8. 1778 Turgot and Price
Turgot, (French)wrote a letter to Dr. Price (English) discussing Constitutions of six of the new American States, "It is impossible not to pray that this people (Americans) may arrive at all the prosperity of which they are capable. They are the hope of mankind." Turgot suggested that…“Americans had an opportunity to prove by example that political, religious, and commercial liberty was a possibility.”
Price replied, "The time probably will come when a great part of Europe will be flocking to a country where unmolested by spiritual and civil tyranny, they will be able to enjoy in safety the exercise of reason and the rights of man." Dr. Price went on, continuing to applauded Turgot's view, even to admitting that the American Revolutionary war, then in progress, might prove to be a great service to mankind.” [C1 p151]
9. 1802: Jefferson to Governor Hall
“Nor are we acting for ourselves alone, but for the whole human race. The event of our experiment is to show whether man can be trusted with self-government. The eyes of suffering humanity are fixed on us with anxiety as their only hope, and on such a theatre for such a cause we must suppress all smaller passions and local considerations.” [B24 p27-28]