From the back cover

Can man Rule Himself? This question stood at the center of John Adams' life and thought during the Revolutionary era. In this collection, Harlon J. Schuler — a direct descendant of Henry Adams, the common immigrant ancestor of the Adams family — gathers his cousin John Adams' most important legal and constitutional writings. From his early critique of tyranny in A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law, through his courageous defense of British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, his influential Thoughts on Government, the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 (the oldest written constitution still in effect today), and his later reflections on balanced republican government, Adams emerges as one of the most profound constitutional thinkers of the founding generation. Often overshadowed by flashier contemporaries, Adams insisted that liberty requires more than revolution: it demands balanced institutions, an educated and virtuous citizenry, and the supremacy of law over passion and power. His answer to the great question was cautiously hopeful — self-government is difficult and fragile, but possible. Written with familial insight and reverence, this volume revives Adams' urgent warnings and enduring principles for a new generation.