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602. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Marshfield
603. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Princeton
604. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Quincy
605. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Salem
606. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Tisbury
607. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Watertown
608. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Weston
609. Massachusetts 1800 House of Representatives, Worcester
610. Massachusetts 1800 Lieutenant Governor
611. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Barnstable County
612. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Berkshire County
613. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Bristol County
614. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Cumberland County
615. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Dukes and Nantucket Counties
616. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Essex County
617. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Hampshire County
618. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Hancock, Kennebec, Lincoln and Washington Counties
619. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Middlesex County
620. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Norfolk County
621. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Plymouth County
622. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Suffolk County
623. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, Worcester County
624. Massachusetts 1800 State Senate, York County
625. Massachusetts 1800 Treasurer, Bristol County
626. Massachusetts 1800 Treasurer, Hancock County
627. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Eastern 1
628. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Eastern 2
629. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Eastern 3
630. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Middle 1
631. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Middle 2
632. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Middle 3
633. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Middle 4
634. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Southern 1
635. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Southern 2
636. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Southern 3
637. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Western 1
638. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Western 2
639. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Western 3
640. Massachusetts 1800 U.S. House of Representatives, District Western 4
641. Massachusetts 1801 Constitutional Convention, Pittsfield
642. Massachusetts 1801 Governor
643. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Bernardston and Leyden
644. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Boston
645. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Brookfield
646. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Brookline
647. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Chatham
648. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Fitchburg
649. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Hallowell
650. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Hardwick
651. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Marshfield
652. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Mendon
653. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Princeton
654. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Salem
655. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Watertown
656. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Weston
657. Massachusetts 1801 House of Representatives, Worcester
658. Massachusetts 1801 Lieutenant Governor
659. Massachusetts 1801 Registry of Deeds, Dukes County
660. Massachusetts 1801 Registry of Deeds, Essex County
661. Massachusetts 1801 Registry of Deeds, Hancock County
662. Massachusetts 1801 Registry of Deeds, Kennebec County
663. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Barnstable County
664. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Berkshire County
665. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Bristol County
666. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Cumberland County
667. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Dukes, Nantucket, and Plymouth Counties
668. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Essex County
669. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Hampshire County
670. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Hancock, Kennebec, Lincoln and Washington Counties
671. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Middlesex County
672. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Norfolk County
673. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Suffolk County
674. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, Worcester County
675. Massachusetts 1801 State Senate, York County
676. Massachusetts 1801 Treasurer, Berkshire County
677. Massachusetts 1801 Treasurer, Dukes County
678. Massachusetts 1801 Treasurer, Essex County
679. Massachusetts 1801 Treasurer, Hancock County
680. Massachusetts 1801 Treasurer, Lincoln County
681. Massachusetts 1801 U.S. House of Representatives, District Southern 2, Ballot 2
682. Massachusetts 1801 U.S. House of Representatives, District Western 1, Ballot 2
683. Massachusetts 1802 Governor
684. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Andover
685. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Augusta
686. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Boston
687. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Brookfield
688. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Brookline
689. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Charlemont
690. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Chatham
691. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Falmouth
692. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Fitchburg
693. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Hardwick
694. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Ipswich
695. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Lancaster
696. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Machias
697. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Marshfield
698. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Mendon
699. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Pittsfield
700. Massachusetts 1802 House of Representatives, Portland
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With independence from Great Britain in 1776, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was governed by the same bicameral legislature that existed during the colonial period. It was not until 1780 that John Adams, armed with a statewide mandate for a constitutional convention, set about drafting a formal state constitution. What Adams forged proved so successful that it later became a template for the Constitution of United States. What made the 1780 Massachusetts constitution so influential was how it seemingly balanced the populist ideals promised to the citizenry by the Revolution with the fundamentally conservative expectations of the existing Massachusetts elite. In terms of structure, it established an elective chief magistrate (the governor), a bicameral legislature (the General Court made up of a House and a Senate), and an independent judiciary (an appointed state court system). Also, Adams included a declaration of rights to ensure civil liberties (as well as his brainchild's ratification). Although ratified by town meetings throughout the commonwealth, the document was fundamentally conservative in that it secured the ruling elite's control over the state by giving disproportionate power to the wealthy coastal counties of Suffolk and Essex. Not surprisingly, the 1780 constitution became the darling of the Federalist Party establishment that fought to resist constitutional reform. In opposition, the Democratic-Republicans chafed at the propertied basis for representation in the Senate, which gave an eastern county like Suffolk six senators to Berkshire's two, despite the fact that Berkshire had a larger population. Also, the Democratic-Republicans, whose popular base was in the western part of the state and tended to be of modest means, despised the pecuniary qualifications for the franchise, as well as the nonelected judiciary, claiming both were profoundly undemocratic.
In 1820 the opponents to the 1780 constitution had their chance when the Maine district of Massachusetts was broken off and given statehood. As a result of such radical change, the General Court called for a constitutional convention to revisit the constitution of 1780. Despite optimistic expectations for major constitutional reform, an assortment of conservatives, led by a highly sophisticated Federalist Party machine, outwitted the forces of reform at the convention, and little significant change was effected. Power remained centralized in the east, with Boston serving as its epicenter. Although the state constitutional convention proved a great victory for the Federalist establishment, in the early 1820s the party faced an angry populist insurgency fed up with the dictatorial leadership style of the Federalists. In Boston a third party, the Middling Interest, emerged that rejected the deferential nature of past politics and took up an activist stand for reform. In the mayoral election of 1822, the insurgency forced Federalist Party boss Harrison Gray Otis to bow out of the race and elected a Middling Interest candidate, thus marking the demise of the Federalist Party in Massachusetts. Although it still existed in name for a few more years, the party never regained its once dominant position in Massachusetts political life, thus signaling the advent of the Jacksonian Age and the Second Party System.
Bibliography
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John Adams: 1784–1826, Vol. II. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1962. - Story, Ronald.
Harvard and the Boston Upper Class: The Forging of an Aristocracy, 1800–1870 Middletown, CN: Wesleyan University Press, 1980. - Wilkie, Richard W. and Jack Tager, eds.
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