“Binding Lions with Silken Threads:” The Writings of John Adams on Constitutional Government and the Balance of Power.

Abstract

“Binding Lions with Silken Threads” sets out to strengthen the argument for the influence of John Adams on the construction of the United States Constitution. While previous work has been done on the influence of one of Adams’s publications, namely his Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, my thesis will expand by examining earlier publications of Adams to establish the shared foundations and formative content. I will examine four Adams publications, his essays under the name Novanglus, his Thoughts on Government pamphlet, his work on the Massachusetts Constitution, and his Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, to analyze their shared content and context. I will then establish the reception and influence of Adams’s writing through primary documentation of contemporary letters to substantiate the argument for Adams’s influence on the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia despite his absence from the event. Adams’s writings consistently make persuasive arguments on key points: balance and separation of power, the corruptibility of human nature, the nature and necessity of law, and the ideal structure of a democratic republic, and how those are seen in the final draft of the U.S. Constitution. Adams’s form of argumentation and the lessons he learned from the failings of other governments lend additional credence to the argument for his influence on the Constitutional Convention.