"It is the right of suffrage, and the right to bear arms that distinguishes the freeman from the slave...."

"...One of the fundamental principles of our government is, that the will of the majority shall rule, when legally and constitutionally expressed; and it is the duty of every good citizen to submit to that will. Fraudulent and illegal voting are designed to destroy this principle and substitute the will of the minority for that of the majority. The right of suffrage is one of which every American citizen is justly proud. But this right is of no importance, if the power it confers is to be destroyed by the fraudulent vote of others. In what do the citizens of this country differ from the subjects of the despots of the of world! Mainly in the fact that they possess the right of suffrage, and the right to bear arms in its defense. It is the right of suffrage, and the right to bear arms that distinguishes the freeman from the slave. It is by means of this right that the people govern--that they legislate for themselves, and execute the laws when made, through agents of their own choice. Take this right from us, and we are no longer free. Preserve it from fraud and corruption, & we never can be slaves...."--[Governor Thomas Corwin*.]

[The Ohio Democrat, Canal Dover, Tuscarawas County, (Ohio), December 18, 1840. Volume 2. Number 67. Pg. 3 - Excerpted from the article; "Governor's Message.", started on Pg. 1]

* - Thomas Corwin, (July 29, 1794 – December 18, 1865), was a politician from the state of Ohio who served as a prosecuting attorney, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Corwin was the 15th Governor of Ohio, 20th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and United States Ambassador to Mexico.