[Ads-l] Antedating of "Separation of Powers"

[Shapiro, Fred]

separation of powers (OED 1896)

1795 Thomas Boylston Adams Letter to John Adams 13 July (Founders Online)  In quoting your work, to prove the necessity of a separation of powers & a division of Legislative functions, he was guilty of a misnomer as to the Author.

1835 Niles' Weekly Register 1 Aug. 389/2 (HeinOnline)  The constitution provides three separ te, distinct and independent departments of government — legislative, executive and judicial ...it is only by protecting each department from the encroachments of the others, that the advantages arising from this separation of powers can be preserved.

Fred Shapiro

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