Nathan Dane - Later Career

Later Career

Dane was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate from 1790 to 1791 and again from 1794 to 1797. In 1794 he served on a commission that reviewed and codified the laws of Massachusetts.

Later, while practicing law, he remained an active reformer, on behalf of vocational education and humane treatment of prisoners. He also helped establish the American Temperance Society to discourage use and abuse of alcoholic beverages.

He was a member of the Federalist Party and its Essex Junto. The Massachusetts legislature appointed him as a delegate to the Hartford Convention during the War of 1812, which damaged his reputation, although Dane saw himself as a voice of moderation at the Convention and maintained that he did not have any secessionist intentions: "Someone must go to prevent mischief," he said.