OBSERVATION: One of the objectives of the Founding Fathers is captured in the expression of John Adams that the new American political system was to be based on “a government of laws, and not of men.”

In his 7th “Novanglus” letter, published in the Boston Gazette in 1774, John Adams  introduced this phrase to the American discourse. According to Quotes and Counter Quotes, the concept of “a government of laws, and not of men” reflects a political philosophy that dates back to the ancient Greeks. But the phrase itself was enshrined in history and quotation books by John Adams prior …