John Adam Quotes by Gordon S. Wood

By the time [John Adams] came to write his Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787 he had as…

— Gordon S. Wood

By 1782 [John Adams] had come to feel for [Benjamin] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence."

— Gordon S. Wood

I think [John Adams] developed a much deeper suspicion of France and the other European powers than he had earlier. He lost…

— Gordon S. Wood

A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought [Tomas Jefferson and John Adams] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for…

— Gordon S. Wood

Deeply versed in history, [John Adams] said over and over that America had no special providence, no special role in history, that…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams] experience with the French philosophers only convinced him further of the need for a bicameral legislature representing the two principal…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams] is impressed with [Tomas] Jefferson's learning, but noted his silence during the debates in the Congress: "I never heard him…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams's] vividly descriptive prose is supremely quotable. Adams wears his heart on his sleeve and reveals all of his ambitions, doubts,…

— Gordon S. Wood

[Benjamin] Franklin may be a great philosopher, [John Adams] told his diary in 1779, but "as a Legislator in America he has…

— Gordon S. Wood

Americans, [John Adams] wrote in 1780, believed that their "revolution is as much for the benefit of the generality of Mankind in…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams] diary, of course, is even more revealing of his feelings. Both his letters to [his wife] Abigail and his diary…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams] always felt that his contribution to bringing about independence went unappreciated, especially after the 1790s when [Tomas] Jefferson began to…

— Gordon S. Wood

[ Massachusetts constitution] was [John Adams] attempt to justify that structure by the traditional notion of social estates - that the executive…

— Gordon S. Wood

As early as 1776, [John Adams] expressed his doubts about America's capacity for virtue. "I have seen all along my Life, Such…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams] letters courting Abigail Smith are especially priceless. In one of 1764 he addresses her as "Miss Adorable" and says that…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams and Tomas Jefferson] shared experience in 1775 - 1776 in bringing about the separation from Britain and their service in…

— Gordon S. Wood

I think [John Adams's] influence on the federal Constitution was indirect. Many including James Madison mocked the first volume of Adams's Defence…

— Gordon S. Wood

[John Adams' writings] had indicted the United States for slavishly copying the English constitution by erecting bicameral legislatures in their state constitutions,…

— Gordon S. Wood