Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s September 1, 1779. I’m in Boston, Massachusetts, with John Adams. John is busy writing a constitution for the commonwealth of Massachusetts.
JG: “Mr. Adams, could you give us the most important feature of your state constitution?”
JA: “Mr. Gillespie, our constitution is a social compact by which the whole people covenant with each citizen and each citizen with the whole people. We must always remember to be a government of laws and not of men.”
The constitution of Massachusetts is the oldest functioning written constitution in the world.
Read the full text of the The Constitution or Form of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
