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A Case for the Separation of Powers
NARRATOR: The power John Adams feared most was that of an American aristocracy.
JOHN FERLING, historian: He was attempting to devise a structure of government that would prevent the wealthiest, the most elite in American society, from gaining control.
NARRATOR: Adams called for a strong executive in the form of a governor with veto power, for two branches of the legislature and an independent judiciary.
DAVID MCCULLOUGH, author: Adams was the driving champion of that. He must have an independent judiciary. The judiciary must be able to come to its decisions without the influence of politics or the power of the other segments of government.
JOSEPH ELLIS, historian: And by late summer and early fall, he has written this document, which still is the constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is generally regarded as the model state constitution, the one that became the closest approximation of what the federal constitution is going to be.
In 1779, John Adams wrote the constitution for Massachusetts, which described how that state government would be run. It was the first constitution to divide up the state's power so that no one person or group would always be in control. Adams believed that everyone—rich or poor—should have a say in the government. This idea was different from an aristocracy—like the one in Britain—where the richest people ran the country.
This video shows more about why John Adams wanted to divide power in this way, first in Massachusetts and later throughout the United States. Click on the left to watch the video.