Chapter V, TRANSFORMATION, p. 182.
“

The primary function of a constitution was to mark out the boundaries of governmental powers-hence in England, where there was no constitution , there were no limits (save for the effect of trail by jury) to what the legislature might do.

— Bernard Bailyn

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The primary function of a constitution was to mark out the boundaries of governmental powers-hence in England, where there was no constitution , there were no limits (save for the effect of trail by jury) to what the legislature might do." in the context of "Chapter V, TRANSFORMATION, p. 182." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Bernard Bailyn" (Quotes, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (1967)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Bernard Bailyn

About Bernard Bailyn

Bernard Bailyn (September 9, 1922 – 7 August 2020), was an American historian, author, and professor specializing in U.S. Colonial and Revolutionary-era History. He was a professor at Harvard from 1953 and won the Pulitzer Prize for History twice, in 1968 and 1987.