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2. Massachusetts 1795 Selectman, Hallowell, Second
3. Massachusetts 1795 Selectman, Hallowell, Third
4. Massachusetts 1795 Treasurer, Hallowell
5. Massachusetts 1799 Selectman, Boston
6. Massachusetts 1803 Selectman, Boston
7. Massachusetts 1803 Selectman, Boston, Special
8. Massachusetts 1803 Selectman, Salem
9. Massachusetts 1803 Selectman, Salem, Ballot 2
10. Massachusetts 1803 Town Clerk, Salem, Special
11. Massachusetts 1803 Town Clerk, Salem, Special
12. Massachusetts 1803 Treasurer, Salem
13. Massachusetts 1804 Selectman, Salem
14. Massachusetts 1804 Town Clerk, Salem
15. Massachusetts 1804 Treasurer, Essex County
16. Massachusetts 1804 Treasurer, Tisbury
17. Massachusetts 1805 Selectman, Boston
18. Massachusetts 1805 Selectman, Salem
19. Massachusetts 1806 Assistant Assessor, Boston, Ward 6
20. Massachusetts 1806 Board of Health, Boston, Ward 6
21. Massachusetts 1806 Selectman, Boston
22. Massachusetts 1806 Selectman, Boston
23. Massachusetts 1806 Selectman, Salem
24. Massachusetts 1806 Selectman, Salem, Ballot 2
25. Massachusetts 1806 Town Clerk, Boston
26. Massachusetts 1807 Selectman, Boston
27. Massachusetts 1807 Selectman, Salem
28. Massachusetts 1807 Town Clerk, Ipswich
29. Massachusetts 1808 Selectman, Boston
30. Massachusetts 1808 Selectman, Newburyport
31. Massachusetts 1808 Selectman, Portland
32. Massachusetts 1808 Selectman, Salem
33. Massachusetts 1808 Town Clerk, Newburyport
34. Massachusetts 1809 Assessor, Salem
35. Massachusetts 1809 Assistant Assessor, Boston, Ward 3
36. Massachusetts 1809 Assistant Assessor, Boston, Ward 6
37. Massachusetts 1809 Board of Health, Boston, Ward 3
38. Massachusetts 1809 Board of Health, Boston, Ward 6
39. Massachusetts 1809 Clerk, Boston, Ward 6
40. Massachusetts 1809 Selectman, Salem
41. Massachusetts 1809 Selectman, Salem, Ballot 2
42. Massachusetts 1809 Town Clerk, Boston, Special
43. Massachusetts 1809 Town Clerk, Boston, Special, Ballot 2
44. Massachusetts 1809 Town Clerk, Salem
45. Massachusetts 1809 Treasurer, Salem
46. Massachusetts 1810 Selectman, Salem
47. Massachusetts 1811 Selectman, Portland
48. Massachusetts 1811 Selectman, Salem
49. Massachusetts 1811 Selectman, Salem, Ballot 2
50. Massachusetts 1812 Assessor, Portland
51. Massachusetts 1812 Assessor, Salem
52. Massachusetts 1812 Collector, Portland
53. Massachusetts 1812 Inspector of Police, Portland
54. Massachusetts 1812 Moderator, Fairhaven
55. Massachusetts 1812 Moderator, Haverhill
56. Massachusetts 1812 Moderator, Norton
57. Massachusetts 1812 Moderator, Portland
58. Massachusetts 1812 Moderator, Salem
59. Massachusetts 1812 Moderator, Springfield
60. Massachusetts 1812 Selectman, Gloucester
61. Massachusetts 1812 Selectman, Haverhill
62. Massachusetts 1812 Selectman, Norton
63. Massachusetts 1812 Selectman, Portland
64. Massachusetts 1812 Selectman, Salem
65. Massachusetts 1812 Selectman, Springfield
66. Massachusetts 1812 Town Clerk, Fairhaven
67. Massachusetts 1812 Town Clerk, Gloucester
68. Massachusetts 1812 Town Clerk, Haverhill
69. Massachusetts 1812 Town Clerk, Norton
70. Massachusetts 1812 Town Clerk, Salem
71. Massachusetts 1812 Treasurer, Haverhill
72. Massachusetts 1812 Treasurer, Portland
73. Massachusetts 1813 Assessor, Salem
74. Massachusetts 1813 Moderator, Nantucket
75. Massachusetts 1813 Moderator, Salem
76. Massachusetts 1813 Moderator, Worcester
77. Massachusetts 1813 Selectman, Nantucket
78. Massachusetts 1813 Selectman, Salem
79. Massachusetts 1813 Town Clerk, Salem
80. Massachusetts 1814 Assessor, Lynn
81. Massachusetts 1814 Assessor, Salem
82. Massachusetts 1814 Moderator, Andover
83. Massachusetts 1814 Moderator, Salem
84. Massachusetts 1814 Moderator, Worcester
85. Massachusetts 1814 Overseer of the Poor, Lynn
86. Massachusetts 1814 Selectman, Lynn
87. Massachusetts 1814 Selectman, Salem
88. Massachusetts 1814 Town Clerk, Andover
89. Massachusetts 1814 Town Clerk, Lynn
90. Massachusetts 1814 Town Clerk, Salem
91. Massachusetts 1814 Treasurer, Lynn
92. Massachusetts 1815 Moderator, Worcester
93. Massachusetts 1815 Selectman, Boston
94. Massachusetts 1815 Selectman, Boston, Special
95. Massachusetts 1816 Assessor, Salem
96. Massachusetts 1816 Constable, Lynn
97. Massachusetts 1816 Moderator, Salem
98. Massachusetts 1816 Overseer of the Poor, Lynn
99. Massachusetts 1816 Selectman, Boston
100. Massachusetts 1816 Selectman, Lynn
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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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