The Oldest Constitution?

April 2024

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September/October 1987

13 years ago By admin

Volume

38

Issue

6

The oldest written constitution still going is not the Constitution of the United States but the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts of 1780. That constitution not only is the oldest still in use but also served as the pattern for the federal Constitution and other democratic constitutions that have followed.

In the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 are established the following, which also appear in the federal Constitution:

1. The philosophy of democratic government here.

2. The frame of government with the three separate branches, and the twohouse legislature.

3. The definition of rights.

Were it not for John Adams through the Constitution of Massachusetts and his treatise of 1787, the United States might possibly have had a parliamentary form of government patterned after the English one to which the drafters of the Constitution had been accustomed.

Stories published from "September/October 1987"

The Presidential Follies

Authored by: Irwin F. Fredman

An old, familiar show is back in Washington. There’s a new cast, of course, but the script is pretty much the same as ever. Here’s the program.

‘Let Them All Be Damned-I’ll Do As I Please’

Authored by: Edward Abrahams

In a career that made her one of the greatest American artist of the century, Georgia O’Keeffe claimed to have done it all by herself—without influence from family, friends, or fellow artists. The real story is less romantic though just as extraordinary.

Three Sisters Who Showed The Way

Authored by: Megan Marshall

Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody managed to extend the boundaries that cramped the lives of nineteenth-century women. Elizabeth introduced the kindergarten movement to America, Mary developed a new philosophy of mothering that we now take for granted, and Sophia was liberated from invalidism by her passionate love for her husband.

Less Work For Mother?

Authored by: Ruth Schwartz Cowan

Modern technology enables the housewife to do much more in the house than ever before. That’s good- and not so good.

The Non-Signers

Authored by: Charles L. Mee, Jr.

After a summer of debate, three of the delegates in Philadelphia could not bring themselves to put their names to the document they had worked so hard to create

A Tiffany Gift

Authored by: The Editors

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner for 150 Years

The Example of Private Slovik

Authored by: Benedict B. Kimmelman

Of the thousands of American soldiers court-martialed for desertion in World War II, Eddie Slovik was the only one put to death. One of the judges who convicted him looks back with regret.

The Oldest Constitution?

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