Quote
By Abraham Lincoln
The people—the people—are the rightful masters of both congresses, and courts—not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.
- Source
- Notes for Speeches at Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, September 1859 · Vol. 3, p. 435
- Read at
- Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
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About this quote
These are working notes Lincoln prepared for speeches in Ohio in September 1859, not a speech delivered in these exact words. The popular version of this line is a paraphrase.