Thoughts on Government

E1597

Thoughts on Government is a 1776 political pamphlet by John Adams that outlines his influential vision for republican government and the separation of powers in the emerging United States.

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Thoughts on Government canonical 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf political pamphlet
treatise on government
written work
advocatesFor checks and balances
mixed government
protection of individual liberties
rule of law
author John Adams
circaPageCount short pamphlet
circulation widely circulated among American revolutionaries
commissionedBy North Carolina leaders
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
dateWritten 1776
genre political theory
republicanism
hasPart discussion of executive power
discussion of judicial power
discussion of legislative power
historicalContext American Revolutionary War
influenced Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
surface form: Massachusetts Constitution

state constitutions of the United States
influencedBy Enlightenment political philosophy
classical republicanism
keyConcept balanced constitution
government based on consent of the governed
representation of the people
virtue in republican government
language English
mainSubject American Revolutionary War
surface form: American Revolution

constitutional design
republican government
separation of powers
notableFor early articulation of separation of powers in the United States
influence on early American constitutional thought
opposes concentration of power in a single assembly
unicameral legislature
placeOfWriting Philadelphia
politicalPosition rejection of hereditary monarchy
rejection of pure democracy
support for republicanism
proposes bicameral legislature
independent judiciary
separate executive branch
publicationYear 1776
purpose to advise on forming new state governments
relatedWork A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America
Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
surface form: Massachusetts Constitution of 1780

The Federalist Papers

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John Adams notableWork Thoughts on Government