[John] Adams's letters reveal his persistence and determination to win over the Dutch against all odds and to convince them and the other peoples of Europe of the potential greatness of the United States and of the importance of the… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[The Massachusetts constitution] resembles the federal Constitution of 1787 more closely than any of the other revolutionary state constitutions. It was also drawn up… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
[John] Adams identified himself with the political theories of [James] Harrington, [John] Locke, and [Charles-Louis] Montesquieu, whose ideas of constitutionalism, he believed, were applicable… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
[John] Adams was the best and most colorful stylist among the Founders. Although [Tomas] Jefferson is widely regarded as the smoothest writer, Adams is… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
This rationale, which justified the mixed constitution of Great Britain, might have made some sense in 1776, but by 1787 most American thinkers had… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
By the time [John Adams] came to write his Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787 he had as dark a… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
Creating senates, the French critics said, implied that there was another social order besides the people represented in the houses of representatives. [John] Adams… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
By 1782 [John Adams] had come to feel for [Benjamin] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence." — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
I think [John Adams] developed a much deeper suspicion of France and the other European powers than he had earlier. He lost much if… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
[John] Adams never had an optimistic view of human nature, and his experience in the Congress and abroad only deepened his suspicion that his… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought [Tomas Jefferson and John Adams] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for the rest… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
“Intellectual activity in a culture is not a one-way flow between the great minds and passive recipients; it is a discourse, a complex marketplace-like… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
[John] Adams's perception of Europe, and especially France, was clearly different than [Tomas] Jefferson's. For Jefferson, the luxury and sophistication of Europe only made… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
History is the queen of the humanities. It teaches wisdom and humility, and it tells us how things change through time. — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
“In the decades following the Revolution, America changed so much and so rapidly that Americans not only became used to change, but came to… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share
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