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Quotation from First Inaugural Address (Jefferson) by Thomas Jefferson
“though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”
First Inaugural Address (Jefferson), Paragraph 2 (Avalon Project transcription)
Jefferson calls this a sacred principle that all should bear in mind after the contest of 1800.
Citation: "though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression." — Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (Jefferson), Paragraph 2 (Avalon Project transcription). (id jefferson-first-inaugural-address-q1)
Portrait: Rembrandt Peale - Thomas Jefferson, Rembrandt Peale, Public domain.
