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102. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, Essex County
103. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, Hampshire County
104. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, Lincoln County
105. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, Middlesex County
106. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, Plymouth County
107. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, Suffolk County
108. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, Worcester County
109. Massachusetts 1789 State Senate, York County
110. Massachusetts 1789 Treasurer, Worcester County
111. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2, Ballot 2
112. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 3, Ballot 2
113. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4, Ballot 2
114. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4, Ballot 3
115. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4, Ballot 4
116. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4, Ballot 5
117. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8, Ballot 2
118. Massachusetts 1789 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8, Ballot 3
119. Massachusetts 1790 Governor
120. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Boston
121. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Boston, Ballot 2
122. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Braintree
123. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Brookline
124. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Charlemont
125. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Chatham
126. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Falmouth
127. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Fitchburg
128. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Oakham
129. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Tisbury
130. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Watertown
131. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Weston
132. Massachusetts 1790 House of Representatives, Worcester
133. Massachusetts 1790 Lieutenant Governor
134. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Barnstable County
135. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Berkshire County
136. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Bristol County
137. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Cumberland County
138. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Dukes and Nantuck Counties
139. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Essex County
140. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Hampshire County
141. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Lincoln County
142. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Middlesex County
143. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Plymouth County
144. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Suffolk County
145. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, Worcester County
146. Massachusetts 1790 State Senate, York County
147. Massachusetts 1790 Treasurer, Dukes County
148. Massachusetts 1790 Treasurer, Worcester County
149. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
150. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2
151. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 3
152. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 4
153. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 5
154. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 5, Ballot 2
155. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 6
156. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 6, Ballot 2
157. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 7
158. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 7, Ballot 2
159. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8
160. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. House of Representatives, District 8, Ballot 2
161. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. Senate
162. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. Senate, Ballot 2
163. Massachusetts 1790 U.S. Senate, Ballot 3
164. Massachusetts 1791 Governor
165. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Boston
166. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Braintree
167. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Brookline
168. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Charlemont
169. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Chatham
170. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Falmouth
171. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Fitchburg
172. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Hallowell
173. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Machias
174. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, North Yarmouth
175. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Oakham
176. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Tisbury
177. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Watertown
178. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Weston
179. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Winslow
180. Massachusetts 1791 House of Representatives, Worcester
181. Massachusetts 1791 Lieutenant Governor
182. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Dukes County
183. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Hampshire County
184. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Suffolk County
185. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Suffolk County, Ballot 2
186. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Suffolk County, Ballot 3
187. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Suffolk County, Ballot 4
188. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Suffolk County, Ballot 5
189. Massachusetts 1791 Registry of Deeds, Suffolk County, Ballot 6
190. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Barnstable County
191. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Berkshire County
192. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Bristol County
193. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Cumberland County
194. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Dukes and Nantuck Counties
195. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Essex County
196. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Hampshire County
197. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Hancock, Lincoln and Washington Counties
198. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Middlesex County
199. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Plymouth County
200. Massachusetts 1791 State Senate, Suffolk County
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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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Money, Morals, and Politics: Massachusetts in the Age of the Boston Associates. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2001. - McCaughey, Robert A.
Josiah Quincy, 1772–1864: The Last Federalist. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974. - Morison, Samuel Eliot.
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Democracy, Liberty, and Property: The State Constitutional Conventions of the 1820's. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966. - Sheidley, Harlow W.
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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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