The Dedication Plaque reads: “National Monument to the Forefathers by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices, and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty.” Daniel Webster, early American statesman (1782-1852) remarked about the Pilgrim’s vision: “We must not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought here by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil political or literary.”