On January 25, 1780 John Hancock was sworn in as Governor under the new Massachusetts Constitution. He rode to the ceremony in a golden chariot, dressed in a red velvet coat with gold trim and buttons. The Corps of Cadets rode with him with fifty in front and fifty behind his coach.
In October he delivered an address to the legislature calling for the re-establishment of public schools (first mandated by the Puritan government in the seventeenth century,) increased teacher salaries, and support for Harvard College. He also proposed assistance for widows and orphans.