Province of Massachusetts Bay - History

History

The early years of the province were dominated by the Salem witch trials and by King William's War (1689–97). In the aftermath of the revolt against Andros, colonial defenses had been withdrawn from the frontiers, which then repeatedly were raided by French and Indian forces from Canada and Acadia. War again broke out in 1702 with Queen Anne's War, which lasted until 1713. Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley organized the colonial defenses, and there were fewer raids than in the earlier war. Dudley also organized expeditions against Acadia, a haven for French privateers, in 1704 and 1707, and requested support from London for more ambitious efforts against New France. In 1709 Massachusetts raised troops for an expedition against Canada that was called off, and again in 1710, when Port Royal, the Acadian capital, was finally captured.

Because of the wars, the colony had issued paper currency, whose value was constantly in decline, leading to financial crises. This led to proposals to create a bank that would issue notes backed by real estate, but this move was opposed by Governor Dudley and his successor, Samuel Shute. Dudley and Shute, as well as later governors, engaged in fruitless attempts to convince the general court to fix salaries for crown-appointed officials. The issues of currency and salary were both long-lived issues over which governors and colonists fought. The conflict over salary reached a peak of sorts during the short-lived administration of William Burnet. He held the provincial assembly in session for six months, relocating it twice, in an unsuccessful attempt to force the issue.

In the early 1720s the Abenaki of northern New England, encouraged by French intriguers but also concerned over British encroachment on their lands, resumed raiding of frontier communities. This violence was eventually put down by Acting Governor William Dummer, leading the conflict to be called Dummer's War (among many other names). Many Abenakis retreated from northern New England into Canada after the conflict.

In the 1730s Governor Jonathan Belcher, a native son, disputed the power of the legislature to direct appropriations, vetoing bills that did not give him the freedom to disburse funds as he saw fit. This meant that the provincial treasury was often empty. Belcher was, however, permitted by the Board of Trade to accept annual grants from the legislature in lieu of a fixed salary. Under his administration the currency crisis flared again. This resulted in a revival of the land bank proposal, which Belcher opposed. His political opponents intrigued in London to have him removed, and the bank was established. Its existence was short-lived, for an act of Parliament forcibly dissolved it. This turned a number of important colonists (including the father of American Revolutionary War political leader Samuel Adams) against crown and Parliament.

The next twenty years were dominated by war. King George's War broke out in 1741, and Governor William Shirley rallied troops from around New England for an assault on the French fortress at Louisbourg. which succeeded in 1745. However, much to the annoyance of New Englanders, Louisbourg was returned to France at the end of the war in 1748. Governor Shirley was relatively popular, in part because he managed to avoid or finesse the more contentious issues his predecessors had raised. He was again militarily active when the French and Indian War broke out in 1754. Raised to the highest colonial military command by the death of General Edward Braddock in 1755, he was unable to manage the large-scale logistics the war demanded, and was recalled in 1757. His successor, Thomas Pownall, oversaw the colonial contribution to the remainder of the war, which ended in North America in 1760.

The 1760s and early 1770s were marked by a rising tide of colonial frustration with London's colonial policies, and with the governors sent to implement and enforce them. Both Francis Bernard and Thomas Hutchinson, the last two non-military governors, were widely disliked over issues large and small, notably the Parliament's attempts to impose taxes on the colonies without representation. Hutchinson, a Massachusetts native who served for many years as lieutenant governor, authorized the quartering of British Army troops in Boston, which eventually precipitated the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. By this time, agitators like Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock were active in opposition to crown policies. After the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, Hutchinson was replaced in May 1774 by General Thomas Gage. Gage was at first well-received, but the reception rapidly became worse as he began to implement the so-called Intolerable Acts, including the Massachusetts Government Act, which dissolved the legislature, and the Boston Port Act, which closed the port of Boston until reparations were paid for the dumped tea. The port closure did great damage to the provincial economy, and led to a wave of sympathetic assistance from other colonies.

The royal government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay existed de facto until early October 1774, when members of the General Court of Massachusetts met in contravention of the Massachusetts Government Act and established the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. Although Governor Gage continued an essentially military rule in Boston, the provincial congress had effective rule in the rest of the province. Hostilities starting the American Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord, which continued with the Siege of Boston. The British evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776, ending the siege and bringing the city under rebel control. On May 1, 1776 the provincial congress adopted a resolution declaring the province to be independent of the crown; this was followed up by the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 declaring the independence of all of the Thirteen Colonies.

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was agreed upon in Cambridge in October 1779 and adopted by the delegates nine months later in June 1780, to go into effect "the last Wednesday of October next". In elections held in October 1780, John Hancock was elected the first Governor of Massachusetts along with representatives to the commonwealth's first General Court.