--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think [John Adams's] influence on the…" description: "\"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 t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6b/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_i-think-john-adams-s-influence-on-the-fe_2752626.jpg" --- # I think \[John Adams's\] influence on the federal… ![“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/i/d6b/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_i-think-john-adams-s-influence-on-the-fe_2752626.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6b/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_i-think-john-adams-s-influence-on-the-fe_2752626.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6b/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_i-think-john-adams-s-influence-on-the-fe_2752626.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 governments, with its separation of powers, its bicameral legislature, its independent judiciary, and its strong executive.” [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adams’ ideas indirectly shaped the Constitution; his state constitution influenced later national structures like separation of powers and bicameralism. **In simple terms:** Adams indirectly influenced the U.S. Constitution. Key Takeaway Recognize indirect contributions. Themes history politics law influence Mood analytical thoughtful Type historical educational When to use this quote - academic lectures - policy analysis - civic education Key Concepts indirect impact constitutional design state models Questions to Reflect On - What indirect ideas shape today’s institutions? - How do we credit unseen contributors? A Different Perspective Attribution can be disputed; indirect influence is hard to measure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Constitution of the united states](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution-of-the-united-states/) [Defence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defence/) [Executives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/executives/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Independent judiciary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independent-judiciary/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Judiciary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judiciary/) [Massachusetts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/massachusetts/) [Separation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separation/) [Separation of powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separation-of-powers/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [United states](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/united-states/) ## Related quotes > [ Perhaps more significant than his experience in Europe, though, was \[John\] Adams's experience in his own country, and his extensive reading on the history… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/perhaps-more-significant-than-his-experience-in-europe-though-was/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/the-massachusetts-constitution-resembles-the-federal-constitution-of/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ \[ Massachusetts constitution\] was \[John Adams\] attempt to justify that structure by the traditional notion of social estates - that the executive represented the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/massachusetts-constitution-was-john-adams-attempt-to-justify-that/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [The Massachusetts constitution was written much later than the other revolutionary state constitutions, and thus it avoids some of the earlier mistakes. The executive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/the-massachusetts-constitution-was-written-much-later-than-the-other/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ It was \[John's Adams\] Massachusetts constitution if anything that influenced people. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/it-was-john-s-adams-massachusetts-constitution-if-anything-that/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [If the federal government has the exclusive right to judge the extent of its own powers, warned the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions' authors (James…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-woods/if-the-federal-government-has-the-exclusive-right-to-judge-the-extent/) [Thomas Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-woods/) > [The reality is that our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government and the envy of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-olson/the-reality-is-that-our-independent-judiciary-is-the-most-respected/) [Ted Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-olson/) > [There is no rule of law in Zimbabwe; there's selective application of the rule of law. Patrick Chinamasa, who is the minister of justice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-bennett/there-is-no-rule-of-law-in-zimbabwe-there-s-selective-application-of/) [Roy Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-bennett/) > [In Iran, there is no freedom of the press, no freedom of speech, no independent judiciary, no free elections. There is no freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/in-iran-there-is-no-freedom-of-the-press-no-freedom-of-speech-no/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [The rule of law means that law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary. The judgments of the European Court of Justice have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-juncker/the-rule-of-law-means-that-law-and-justice-are-upheld-by-an/) [Jean-Claude Juncker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-juncker/) > [I believe that an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-kavanaugh/i-believe-that-an-independent-judiciary-is-the-crown-jewel-of-our/) [Brett Kavanaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-kavanaugh/) > [Slavery tolerates no freedom of the press, no freedom of speech, no freedom of opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hinton-rowan-helper/slavery-tolerates-no-freedom-of-the-press-no-freedom-of-speech-no/) [Hinton Rowan Helper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hinton-rowan-helper/) > [A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone, is a good thing; but independence of the will of the nation is a solecism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-judiciary-independent-of-a-king-or-executive-alone-is-a-good-thing/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [My concerns through the years increased about the concerns of an independent judiciary and how we maintain it. Certainly in the states. I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-day-o-connor/my-concerns-through-the-years-increased-about-the-concerns-of-an/) [Sandra Day O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-day-o-connor/) > [I can say across Europe that many principles that have been taken for granted here around free speech, and around civil liberties and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-can-say-across-europe-that-many-principles-that-have-been-taken-for/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) ## More 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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/the-massachusetts-constitution-resembles-the-federal-constitution-of/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [If history teaches anything, it teaches humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/if-history-teaches-anything-it-teaches-humility/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ \[John\] Adams identified himself with the political theories of \[James\] Harrington, \[John\] Locke, and \[Charles-Louis\] Montesquieu, whose ideas of constitutionalism, he believed, were applicable… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/john-adams-identified-himself-with-the-political-theories-of-james/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ \[John\] Adams was the best and most colorful stylist among the Founders. Although \[Tomas\] Jefferson is widely regarded as the smoothest writer, Adams is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/john-adams-was-the-best-and-most-colorful-stylist-among-the-founders/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [This rationale, which justified the mixed constitution of Great Britain, might have made some sense in 1776, but by 1787 most American thinkers had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/this-rationale-which-justified-the-mixed-constitution-of-great/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 dark a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/by-the-time-john-adams-came-to-write-his-defence-of-the-constitutions/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ Creating senates, the French critics said, implied that there was another social order besides the people represented in the houses of representatives. \[John\] Adams… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/creating-senates-the-french-critics-said-implied-that-there-was/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ By 1782 \[John Adams\] had come to feel for \[Benjamin\] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence." ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/by-1782-john-adams-had-come-to-feel-for-benjamin-franklin-no-other/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 much if… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/i-think-john-adams-developed-a-much-deeper-suspicion-of-france-and/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ \[John\] Adams never had an optimistic view of human nature, and his experience in the Congress and abroad only deepened his suspicion that his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/john-adams-never-had-an-optimistic-view-of-human-nature-and-his/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 the rest… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/a-mutual-friend-benjamin-rush-brought-tomas-jefferson-and-john-adams/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/intellectual-activity-in-a-culture-is-not-a-one-way-flow-between-the/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ \[John\] 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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/john-adams-s-perception-of-europe-and-especially-france-was-clearly/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [History is the queen of the humanities. It teaches wisdom and humility, and it tells us how things change through time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/history-is-the-queen-of-the-humanities-it-teaches-wisdom-and-humility/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [“In the decades following the Revolution, America changed so much and so rapidly that Americans not only became used to change, but came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/in-the-decades-following-the-revolution-america-changed-so-much-and/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) [Explore all 51 Gordon S. Wood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) ## More Constitution quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. 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