Found a quote and wanted to share it here:

"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, & they are tied to their country & wedded to its liberty & interests by the most lasting bonds."

• Thomas Jefferson (from a letter written to John Jay, Paris Aug. 23rd 1875)

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/let32.asp