Books & Manuscripts, including Americana

One page, 4to (12 x 7 1/4 in.; 304 x 184 mm), retaining red wax seal on verso, addressed on verso to Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts John Avery Jr., Esq., one minor separation along fold lines, small loss at lower left corner from wax seal repaired; framed and double glazed.

SIGNED BY CAMBRIDGE TOWN SELECTMEN J. WELLINGTON, MOSES ROBBINS, JOHN ADAMS, MOSES GRIGGS, AND GEORGE PRENTICE; ADDITIONALLY SIGNED BY TOWN CLERK TIMOTHY L. JENNISON.

Widely cited as a model for the United States Constitution, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was formally adopted in June 1780, with John Hancock beginning his term as the independent commonwealth's first governor on 25 October of that year. Following his resignation from office in 1785, James Bowdoin was elected second governor, however his unpopularity due to his handling of the Shays' uprising led to Hancock returning to office in 1787. Upon doing so, Hancock immediately pardoned everyone involved in the rebellion. A popular figure among the people of Massachusetts, Hancock was re-elected as governor on an annual basis from 1787 until his death in 1793.

Serving as Hancock's lieutenant governor, who is also listed here, is Samuel Adams, another signatory of the Declaration of Independence and founder of the Sons of Liberty. Adams's 1768 Massachusetts Circular Letter is generally accepted as the primary cause for the British occupation of Boston, which would result in the Boston Massacre of 1770. He was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1789 and, along with Hancock, re-elected governor in the four subsequent elections. Upon Hancock's death in 1793, Adams became acting governor and was elected governor in his own right in the next election.