Which figure is associated with Federalist Puritan traits—Austerity, work-ethic, sumptuary laws—and with Separation of Powers plus Checks and Balances?

• A. John Adams
• B. James Otis
• C. John Dickinson
• D. Nathaniel Ward

Answer: (A)

Puritan-inspired moral discipline and a constitutional design that disperses power are being connected here. John Adams embodies that blend: a Federalist who carried forward the Puritan emphasis on austerity, hard work, and public virtue into his political thinking, and a staunch advocate for a government arranged to prevent tyranny through separation of powers and checks and balances. In Thoughts on Government and especially in drafting the Massachusetts constitution, Adams argued for distinct branches—legislative, executive, and judiciary—and for mechanisms that allow those branches to constrain each other. This combination of a grave, virtuous citizenry with a carefully structured government shows why Adams is associated with both Puritan traits and with the idea of separating powers and instituting checks and balances.