A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America

This historical essay was a pivotal document in the development of American political theory. Excerpted here in the second of Akashic’s Presidents Series, Adams’ Defence powerfully advocates for the separation of powers, a system of checks and balances and a bicameral legislature. In his introduction, acclaimed satirist Neal Pollack analyses some of the second president’s key precepts and argues that American society is currently experiencing a ‘de-enlightenment’ that gives short thrift to the principles espoused by Adams.