In drafting a constitution for newly independent Massachusetts, the issue of voting rights for Native and Black people was debated.
“We apprehend ourselves to be aggrieved… having no vote or influence in the election of those that tax us.”
“Petition of several poor Negroes and mulattoes, who are inhabitants of the town of Dartmouth,” 1780
”The Failed Constitution
of 1778
In 1778, Massachusetts
towns rejected a draft
constitution for the
“State of Massachusetts.”
Voting rights would
have been limited to
white males. Recalling
the slave trade, when Africans were “assaulted
inhumanely Murdered many of them; to make way
for stealing others,” the town of Sutton protested
that “Negroes etc. are excluded even tho they are
free and men of property.” Similarly it was “cruel
to deprive the original Natives of the Land the
Privileges of Men.”
A Constitution for the “Commonwealth of Massachusetts” - 1780
In 1780, a new constitution for the “Commonwealth of Massachusetts” was approved. Drafted mainly by John Adams, it had no voting restrictions based upon race. Although progressive for the time, it limited voting rights to male property owners. The property qualification was later dropped although women continued to be excluded. The Massachusetts Constitution became an important model for the later Federal Constitution. The original 1780 constitution is on display in the Commonwealth Museum’s Treasures Gallery
John Adams, Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin drafting the Massachusetts Constitution.
- National Park Service
drafting the Massachusetts Constitution.
National Park Service
Braintree birthplace of John Adams
- National Park Service
was made in the Braintree birthplace of John Adams (on the left). The Adams homes are located in present day Quincy.
National Park Service
- Library of Congress
Taxation without Representation Again?
Paul Cuffe was a sea captain and owner of six ships in Westport, MA. Of African and Native American ancestry, he and several other free men of color petitioned the Massachusetts government in 1780 to protest taxes without voting rights. The new constitution did enfranchise Black voters, although equality did not follow.
Paul Cuffe’s Petition
- Massachusetts Archives
“Many of our color…have cheerfully entered the field of battle …against a similar exertion of power (in regard to taxation) too well known to need a recital in this place.”
Massachusetts Archives