Defending the US Constitution: Adams' Perspective on American Authorities

In this second installment of A Defence of the Constitutions of Authorities of the US of America, John Adams carries on his debate against Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot and his idea of "accumulating all authority into one center."

In his exploration of the Italian republics during the medieval period, Adams draws from authentic historical accounts and writings by Italian historians to demonstrate that the turmoil, corruption, and bloodshed prevalent in those ancient governments could potentially manifest in any form of government. By illuminating this reality, Adams aims to enlighten both the American populace and the global community about the potential consequences of governmental structures.

It is challenging to predict what kind of experiments will emerge from a single meeting of a sovereign body and how impactful the outcomes will be. Whether the assembly comprises a large or small group, nobles or commoners, influential or ordinary individuals, the end results remain consistent—lack of order, security, and liberty due to the absence of a governing law.

“There are extant a mess of explicit histories of those cities, full of wonderful warning for the individuals of America. Let me advocate it to you, my younger readers, who’ve time sufficient earlier than you, to make yourselves masters of the Italian language, and avail your nation of all of the instruction contained in them.”

Impressed by occasions in Europe and influencing occasions in America, Adams’ in depth work is a partial historical past of man’s everlasting wrestle to manage energy, and may serve all the time as a guidebook on the means to maintain a individuals free.