Constitution Quote by Gordon S. Wood
![“[The Massachusetts constitution] resembles the federal Constitution of 1787 more closely than any of the other revolutionary state constitutions. It was also drawn up by a special convention, and it provided for popular ratification - practices that were followed by the drafters of the federal…” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ebc/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_the-massachusetts-constitution-resembles_34263.jpg)
“[The Massachusetts constitution] resembles the federal Constitution of 1787 more closely than any of the other revolutionary state constitutions. It was also drawn up by a special convention, and it provided for popular ratification - practices that were followed by the drafters of the federal Constitution of 1787 and subsequent state constitution-makers.”
About This Quote
The Massachusetts constitution closely mirrors the 1787 federal Constitution in its drafting process and ratification, serving as a model for later state constitutions.
In simple terms: It shows early American constitutional continuity.
Key Takeaway
Massachusetts set a precedent for constitutional design.
Themes
constitutional history
federalism
state governance
founding era
legal continuity
political process
Mood
analytical
reflective
Type
historical
explanatory
When to use this quote
- teaching American history
- comparing state constitutions
- analyzing constitutional influence
- designing new charters
- legal scholarship
Key Concepts
constitution drafting
ratification
modeling
state-federal relations
Practical Applications
- educational curricula
- legal comparative studies
Questions to Reflect On
- Why did Massachusetts choose this approach?
- How did this influence later state constitutions?
![“It was [John's Adams] Massachusetts constitution if anything that influenced people.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6fe/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_it-was-john-s-adams-massachusetts-consti_1867270.jpg)
![“I think [John Adams's] influence on the federal Constitution was indirect. Many including James Madison mocked the first volume of Adams's Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787. But his Massachusetts constitution was a model for those who thought about stable popular…” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d6b/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_i-think-john-adams-s-influence-on-the-fe_2752626.jpg)
![“[ Massachusetts constitution] was [John Adams] attempt to justify that structure by the traditional notion of social estates - that the executive represented the monarchical estate, the senate the aristocratic estate, and the house of representatives the estate of the people.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f9d/gordon-s-wood-13199_aristocratic_massachusetts-constitution-was-john-adam_2289325.jpg)
![“[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 to all peoples everywhere; they were his contribution to what he called "the divine science of politics."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c71/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitutionalism_john-adams-identified-himself-with-the-p_226327.jpg)
![“[John] Adams was the best and most colorful stylist among the Founders. Although [Tomas] Jefferson is widely regarded as the smoothest writer, Adams is by far the most engaging and imaginative.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/782/gordon-s-wood-13199_colorful_john-adams-was-the-best-and-most-colorfu_244163.jpg)
![“By the time [John Adams] came to write his Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787 he had as dark a view of the American character as that of any critic in our history.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d41/gordon-s-wood-13199_american-character_by-the-time-john-adams-came-to-write-his_314115.jpg)
![“Creating senates, the French critics said, implied that there was another social order besides the people represented in the houses of representatives. [John] Adams actually agreed with that implication and argued that the aristocracy and the people had to have separate houses; this was the only…” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9a7/gordon-s-wood-13199_aristocracy_creating-senates-the-french-critics-said_349374.jpg)
![“By 1782 [John Adams] had come to feel for [Benjamin] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence."” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/91d/gordon-s-wood-13199_abhorrence_by-1782-john-adams-had-come-to-feel-for_357591.jpg)
![“I think [John Adams] developed a much deeper suspicion of France and the other European powers than he had earlier. He lost much if not all of the utopian thinking about international politics and diplomacy expressed in his Model Treaty of 1776 and became much more cynical about the world.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ccc/gordon-s-wood-13199_cynical_i-think-john-adams-developed-a-much-deep_372770.jpg)
![“[John] Adams never had an optimistic view of human nature, and his experience in the Congress and abroad only deepened his suspicion that his fellow Americans might not have the character to sustain a republican government.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4dc/gordon-s-wood-13199_character_john-adams-never-had-an-optimistic-view_386009.jpg)
![“A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought [Tomas Jefferson and John Adams] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for the rest of their lives. But in their correspondence they tended to avoid the most controversial issues, such as slavery.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/be3/gordon-s-wood-13199_controversial_a-mutual-friend-benjamin-rush-brought-to_487463.jpg)
![“[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 American simplicity and virtue appear dearer. For Adams, by contrast, Europe represented what America was fast becoming - a…” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8c0/gordon-s-wood-13199_america_john-adams-s-perception-of-europe-and-es_579328.jpg)
![“Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then [these?], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/449/abraham-lincoln-88_adoption_next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in_1828.jpg)
