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1802. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Amherst
1803. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Boston
1804. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Boston, Ballot 2
1805. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Brookline
1806. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Charlemont
1807. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Charlestown, Ballot 2
1808. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Chatham
1809. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Danvers
1810. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Edgartown
1811. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Fitchburg
1812. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Gloucester
1813. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Hardwick
1814. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Lynn
1815. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Marshfield
1816. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Nantucket
1817. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Nantucket, Ballot 2
1818. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Newburyport
1819. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Princeton
1820. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Princeton, Ballot 3
1821. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Princeton, Second Ballot
1822. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Salem
1823. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, South Hadley
1824. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Springfield
1825. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Tisbury
1826. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Watertown
1827. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Weston
1828. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Weston, Ballot 2
1829. Massachusetts 1823 House of Representatives, Worcester
1830. Massachusetts 1823 Lieutenant Governor
1831. Massachusetts 1823 Secretary of State
1832. Massachusetts 1823 Senate President
1833. Massachusetts 1823 Speaker of the House
1834. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Barnstable County
1835. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Berkshire County
1836. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Bristol and Dukes District
1837. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Essex County
1838. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Franklin County
1839. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Hampden County
1840. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Hampshire County
1841. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Middlesex County
1842. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Nantucket District
1843. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Norfolk District
1844. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Plymouth District
1845. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Suffolk County, Special
1846. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Suffolk District
1847. Massachusetts 1823 State Senate, Worcester County
1848. Massachusetts 1824 Chaplain of the House of Representatives
1849. Massachusetts 1824 Chaplain of the House of Representatives
1850. Massachusetts 1824 Chaplain of the House of Representatives
1851. Massachusetts 1824 Chaplain of the Senate
1852. Massachusetts 1824 Clerk of the House of Representatives
1853. Massachusetts 1824 Governor
1854. Massachusetts 1824 Governor's Council
1855. Massachusetts 1824 Governor's Council
1856. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Amherst
1857. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Andover
1858. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Blandford
1859. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Boston
1860. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Boston, Ballot 2
1861. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Brookline
1862. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Chatham
1863. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Danvers
1864. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Danvers
1865. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Fitchburg
1866. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Leominster
1867. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Leominster
1868. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Leominster
1869. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Salem
1870. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, South Hadley
1871. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Tisbury
1872. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Truro
1873. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Watertown
1874. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Weston
1875. Massachusetts 1824 House of Representatives, Worcester
1876. Massachusetts 1824 Lieutenant Governor
1877. Massachusetts 1824 Secretary of State
1878. Massachusetts 1824 Speaker of the House
1879. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Barnstable County
1880. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Berkshire County
1881. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Bristol and Dukes District
1882. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Essex
1883. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Franklin County
1884. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Franklin County, Ballot 2
1885. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Hampden County
1886. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Hampshire County
1887. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Middlesex County
1888. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Nantucket County
1889. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Norfolk County
1890. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Plymouth County
1891. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Suffolk County
1892. Massachusetts 1824 State Senate, Worcester County
1893. Massachusetts 1824 Treasurer
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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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Democracy, Liberty, and Property: The State Constitutional Conventions of the 1820's. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966. - Sheidley, Harlow W.
Sectional Nationalism: Massachusetts Conservative Leaders and the Transformation of America, 1815–1836. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998. - Smith, Page.
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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