A Comparative Analysis of American Authorities: Volume I

Discover the latest edition of the constitutions of America, now available for the first time in a modern and easy-to-read format! This version includes the insights of notable figures like Adams and Turgot, offering a valuable resource on the authorities of the USA.

John Adams' "A Defence of the Constitutions of the United States of America" predates "The Federalist" by several years. This foundational work delves into profound political and governmental principles, establishing Adams as an authority on the constitutions of the USA.

Adams was inspired to pen a remarkable treatise after coming across a letter exchanged between a French statesman, Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, and a Welsh thinker, Dr. Richard Worth. Turgot critiqued the governmental structures adopted by several American states post their separation from Great Britain. He believed these systems too closely mirrored the British government, complete with its king, lords, and commons. Turgot proposed a simpler, more democratic form of government, advocating for a single assembly of representatives.

In the meantime, in America, the Congress established below the Articles of Confederation (a single meeting with little test or steadiness) was failing because the nationwide authorities of the USA. And to deal with the institutional failures of this single-assembly “authorities,” the a number of states had appointed delegates to satisfy in conference at Philadelphia, to plot “a extra excellent union.”

Thus, Adams’ Defence: revealed in three volumes starting in early 1787, couldn’t have been extra well timed, for along with a vigorous protection of the a number of American constitutions, Adams additionally offered the Philadelphia delegates with a much-needed reference guide on republican governments.

Impressed by occasions in Europe and influencing occasions in America, Adams’ intensive work is a partial historical past of man’s everlasting battle to regulate energy, and might serve all the time as a guidebook on the means to maintain a folks free.