No big modern war has been won without preponderant sea power; and, conversely, very few rebellions of maritime provinces have succeeded without acqu…

- Samuel Eliot Morison

The same contingencies of time and space that force a statesman or soldier to make decisions, impel the historian, though with less urgency, to make …

- Samuel Eliot Morison

The cruel policy initiated by Columbus and pursued by his successors resulted in complete genocide.

- Samuel Eliot Morison

America was discovered accidentally by a great seaman who was looking for something else; when discovered it was not wanted; and most of the explorat…

- Samuel Eliot Morison

An historian should yield himself to his subject, become immersed in the place and period of his choice, standing apart from it now and then for a fr…

- Samuel Eliot Morison

Skepticism is an important historical tool. It is the starting point of all revision of hitherto accepted history.

- Samuel Eliot Morison

If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worth while. . . . The beauty and cogency of …

- Samuel Eliot Morison

If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worthwhile.

- Samuel Eliot Morison

Make no mistake; the American Revolution was not fought to obtain freedom, but to preserve the liberties that Americans already had as colonials. Ind…

- Samuel Eliot Morison