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1702. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Haverhill
1703. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Leominster
1704. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Leominster, Ballot 2
1705. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Leyden
1706. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Marshfield
1707. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Palmer
1708. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Paxton
1709. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Salem
1710. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Tisbury
1711. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Watertown
1712. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Western
1713. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Weston
1714. Massachusetts 1821 House of Representatives, Worcester
1715. Massachusetts 1821 Lieutenant Governor
1716. Massachusetts 1821 Secretary of State
1717. Massachusetts 1821 Senate President
1718. Massachusetts 1821 Speaker of the House
1719. Massachusetts 1821 Speaker of the House
1720. Massachusetts 1821 Speaker of the House, Ballot 2
1721. Massachusetts 1821 Speaker of the House, Ballot 3
1722. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket District
1723. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket District, Ballot 2
1724. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Berkshire County
1725. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Bristol County
1726. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Essex County
1727. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Hampshire District
1728. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Middlesex County
1729. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Middlesex County, Ballot 2
1730. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Norfolk County
1731. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Plymouth County
1732. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Plymouth County, Ballot 2
1733. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Suffolk County
1734. Massachusetts 1821 State Senate, Worcester County
1735. Massachusetts 1821 Treasurer
1736. Massachusetts 1822 Chaplain of the House of Representatives
1737. Massachusetts 1822 Clerk of the House of Representatives
1738. Massachusetts 1822 Governor
1739. Massachusetts 1822 Governor's Council
1740. Massachusetts 1822 Governor's Council, Ballot 2
1741. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Amherst
1742. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Boston
1743. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Boston, Ballot 2
1744. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Brookline
1745. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Cambridge
1746. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Charlemont
1747. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Chatham
1748. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Danvers, Ballot 2
1749. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Fitchburg
1750. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Haverhill
1751. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Marblehead, Ballot 2
1752. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Marshfield, Ballot 2
1753. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Nantucket
1754. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Roxbury, Ballot 2
1755. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Salem, Ballot 2
1756. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Taunton, Ballot 2
1757. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Tisbury
1758. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Watertown
1759. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Weston
1760. Massachusetts 1822 House of Representatives, Worcester
1761. Massachusetts 1822 Lieutenant Governor
1762. Massachusetts 1822 Secretary of State
1763. Massachusetts 1822 Senate President
1764. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House
1765. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House, Ballot 2
1766. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House, Ballot 2, Special
1767. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House, Ballot 3
1768. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House, Ballot 4
1769. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House, Ballot 4, Special
1770. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House, Special
1771. Massachusetts 1822 Speaker of the House, Special, Ballot 3
1772. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Barnstable County
1773. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Berkshire County
1774. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Bristol County, Special
1775. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Bristol and Dukes District
1776. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Essex County
1777. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Franklin County
1778. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Franklin County
1779. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Hampden County
1780. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Hampshire County
1781. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Hampshire County
1782. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Middlesex County
1783. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Middlesex County, Ballot 2
1784. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Middlesex County, Special
1785. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Nantucket County
1786. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Norfolk County
1787. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Norfolk County
1788. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Plymouth County
1789. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Plymouth County
1790. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Suffolk County
1791. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Suffolk County
1792. Massachusetts 1822 State Senate, Worcester County
1793. Massachusetts 1822 Treasurer
1794. Massachusetts 1823 Clerk of the House of Representatives
1795. Massachusetts 1823 Clerk of the Senate
1796. Massachusetts 1823 Clerk of the Senate, Ballot 2
1797. Massachusetts 1823 Clerk of the Senate, Ballot 3
1798. Massachusetts 1823 Clerk of the Senate, Ballot 4
1799. Massachusetts 1823 Clerk of the Senate, Ballot 5
1800. Massachusetts 1823 Governor
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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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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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