John Adams, 1787:  “The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If 'Thou shalt not covet,' and 'Thou shalt not steal,' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free.”

James Madison, 1787 and 1792:  "The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is . . . an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government."  AND
“Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, that alone is a just government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own.”

Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835 and 1840:  ". . . I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men and where a profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property."  AND
"In no country in the world is the love of property more active and more anxious than in the United States; nowhere does the majority display less inclination for those principles which threaten to alter, in whatever manner, the laws of property."

William Howard Taft, 1913:  “Next to the right of liberty, the right of property is the most important right guaranteed by the constitution and the one which, united with that of personal liberty, has contributed more to the growth of civilization than any other institution established by the human race.”

Calvin Coolidge, 1914, 1920, and 1925:  "Man is born into the universe with a personality that is his own. He has a right that is founded upon the constitution of the universe to have property that is his own. Ultimately, property rights and personal rights are the same thing. The one cannot be preserved if the other be violated."  AND
"Civilization and profits go hand in hand."
AND
"It would be difficult, if not impossible, to estimate the contribution which government makes to business. It is notorious that where the government is bad, business is bad. The mere fundamental precepts of the administration of justice, the providing of order and security, are priceless. The prime element in the value of all property is the knowledge that its peaceful enjoyment will be publicly depended. If disorder should break out in your city, if there should be a conviction extending over any length of time that the rights of persons and property could no longer be protected by law, the value of your tall buildings would shrink to about the price of what are now waterfronts of old Carthage or what are now corner lots in ancient Babylon."

Justice Potter Stewart, 1972:  "[T]he dichotomy [found in some judicial opinions] between personal liberties and property rights is a false one. Property does not have rights. People have rights."

Professor Bernard Siegan, 1997:  “The United States Constitution was framed in large measure to overcome [the] problems [experienced under the Articles of Confederation] by providing substantial protection for the material liberties, including property, economic, and contractual rights.  The Framers sought to create a commercial republic based on ownership, investment, and entrepreneurship.”

Professor James W. Ely, Jr., 1998:  "Despite their differences over particular economic issues, the right to acquire and own property was undoubtedly a paramount value for the framers of the Constitution.  Following the Lockean philosophy, John Rutledge of South Carolina advised the Philadelphia convention that 'Property was certainly the principal object of Society.'  Similarly, Alexander Hamilton declared: 'One great objt. of Govt. is personal protection and the security of Property.'  These sentiments were widely shared by other delegates.  Consistent with the Whig tradition, the framers did not distinguish between personal and property rights.  One the contrary, in their minds, property rights were indispensable because property ownership was closely associated with liberty.  'Property must be secured,' John Adams proclaimed in 1790, 'or liberty cannot exist.'  Indeed, the framers saw property ownership as a buffer protecting individuals from government coercion.  Arbitrary redistributions of property destroyed liberty, and thus the framers hoped to restrain attacks on property rights."

Adams, Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States
Madison, first quote: The Federalist No. 10; second quote: Property
Tocqueville, Democracy in America (H. Reeve trans.)  First quote: Vol I., sec. I, ch. 3; second quote: Vol. II, sec. III, ch. 21.
Taft, Popular Government: Its Essence, its Performance and Its Perils, pp. 85-91
Coolidge, first quote: Speech to the State Senate on Being Elected Its President; second quote: ______________; third quote: Address before the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York
Stewart, majority opinion in Lynch v. Household Finance Corp., 405 U.S. 538, 552
Siegan, Property and Freedom: The Constitution, The Courts, and Land Use Regulation, p. 13
Ely, The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights (2d ed.), p. 43.  (Ely's title comes from a 1775 statement by Arthur Lee of Virginia, quoted on p. 26: "The right of property is the guardian of every other right, and to deprive a people of this, is in fact to deprive them of their liberty.")
 

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