--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Massachusetts constitution was…" description: "\"The Massachusetts constitution was written much later than the other revolutionary state constitutions, and thus it avoids some of the earlier mistakes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_the-massachusetts-constitution-was-writt_2058646.jpg" --- # The Massachusetts constitution was written much later than… ![“The Massachusetts constitution was written much later than the other revolutionary state constitutions, and thus it avoids some of the earlier mistakes. The executive is stronger, with a limited veto; the senate is more formidable; and the judiciary is independent.” quote by Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_the-massachusetts-constitution-was-writt_2058646.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_the-massachusetts-constitution-was-writt_2058646.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/887/gordon-s-wood-13199_constitution_the-massachusetts-constitution-was-writt_2058646.jpg) > “The Massachusetts constitution was written much later than the other revolutionary state constitutions, and thus it avoids some of the earlier mistakes. The executive is stronger, with a limited veto; the senate is more formidable; and the judiciary is independent.” [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. Massachusetts' later constitution avoided early revolutionary errors by strengthening executive, senate, and judiciary. **In simple terms:** Later drafting fixed early flaws in government structure. Key Takeaway Learn from past mistakes when designing institutions. Themes government law history Mood analytical critical Type historical political When to use this quote - state constitution drafting - policy reform - legal education Key Concepts constitutional design checks and balances Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards ensure balanced power? - How to balance efficiency and oversight? A Different Perspective Strong executive may risk overreach without proper safeguards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Constitutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitutions/) [Executives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/executives/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Judiciary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judiciary/) [Massachusetts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/massachusetts/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Revolutionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutionary/) [Senate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senate/) ## Related quotes > [ \[The Massachusetts constitution\] 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 the federal constitution is to be construed so far in connection with the state constitutions, as to leave the trial by jury in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-lee/if-the-federal-constitution-is-to-be-construed-so-far-in-connection/) [Richard Henry Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-lee/) > [ 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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-s-wood/i-think-john-adams-s-influence-on-the-federal-constitution-was/) [Gordon S. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-s-wood/) > [ 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/) > [ \[ Massachusetts constitution\] 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/) > [ 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/) > [In reading over the Constitutions of all fifty of our states, I discovered something which some of you may not know: there is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-james-kennedy/in-reading-over-the-constitutions-of-all-fifty-of-our-states-i/) [D. James Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-james-kennedy/) > [It will be remembered, that a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is solemnly enjoined by most of the state constitutions, and particularly by our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/it-will-be-remembered-that-a-frequent-recurrence-to-fundamental/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [As a matter of law the states recognized no constraints on their legislative scope other than those that were self-imposed. Even where particular state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-wallerstein/as-a-matter-of-law-the-states-recognized-no-constraints-on-their/) [Immanuel Wallerstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-wallerstein/) > [“Now, it’s a pity that your schools no longer teach the same language in which the Declaration and the Constitution were written because you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-pelham/now-it-s-a-pity-that-your-schools-no-longer-teach-the-same-language/) [Jack Pelham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-pelham/) > [The government was set to protect man from criminals-and the constitution was written to protect man from the government. The Bill of Rights was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/the-government-was-set-to-protect-man-from-criminals-and-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“The protection of our Constitution, and, moreover, of written law itself, has been laughed to scorn by traitors in black dresses who have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-befumo/the-protection-of-our-constitution-and-moreover-of-written-law-itself/) [Joseph Befumo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-befumo/) > [These are issues we've been grappling with since the Constitution was written: how you hold your government to account for its words and deeds.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-plame/these-are-issues-we-ve-been-grappling-with-since-the-constitution-was/) [Valerie Plame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-plame/) > [“Interpreters, when challenged on their manipulations, tell us the Constitution was written for a different and simpler time. Actually, the genius of the Constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-david-ledbetter/interpreters-when-challenged-on-their-manipulations-tell-us-the/) [Mark David Ledbetter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-david-ledbetter/) > [Our Constitution was not written in the sands to be washed away by each wave of new judges blown in by each successive political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugo-black/our-constitution-was-not-written-in-the-sands-to-be-washed-away-by/) [Hugo Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugo-black/) ## 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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