State Constitutions
State constitutions offered another foundation for the framers to incorporate familiar principles on governance. While most state constitutions are modeled after the U.S. Constitution, four colonies had written constitutions prior to the Declaration of Independence. States incorporated familiar principles such as popular sovereignty, the separation of powers, a bicameral legislature, the establishment of a chief executive (governor), a judiciary system, and the implementation of checks and balances. While there were many similarities among the state constitutions, the Massachusetts Constitution served as a model for the U.S. Constitution in terms of its structure and substance. Unlike other constitutions that only listed provisions, the Massachusetts version had chapters, sections, and articles.
First Articles of the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, written primarily by John Adams.
Part the First.
A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Article 1. All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.
II: It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great creator and preserver of the universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping GOD in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship.
III. As the happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion and morality; and as these cannot be generally diffused through a community, but by the institution of the public worship of GOD, and of public instructions in piety, religion and morality: Therefore, to promote their happiness, and to secure the good order and preservation of their government, the people of this Commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature with...
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