Page:A Brief History of the Constitution and Government of Massachusetts (1925).pdf/29

Rh The Provincial Congress sat without a Governor. The Council of was continued and sat during the Revolutionary War and until the adoption of the Constitution, taking the place of the chief executive. Thus, with the Provincial Congress, town meetings, a Council, committees of safety, and finally a General Court meeting on July 26, 1775, at the suggestion of the Continental Congress, Massachusetts was governed up to the time of the adoption of the constitution.

Massachusetts was the last of the original thirteen States to adopt a constitution; but she was the first State to submit her constitution to a vote of the people. The events leading up to the adoption of a constitution by Massachusetts are of great interest.

The Council had proceeded to reorganize the courts and to grant commissions, but this temporary makeshift did not work well. Many of the people were oppressed by debts; in places they interfered with the sittings of the inferior courts. There were contentions, too, between the Council and the House. In Berkshire County no State courts were allowed. The towns ran things themselves. Pittsfield, for instance, named five men to sit and hold a local court. The citizens of Lee voted that they held themselves "bound to support the civil authority of this State for the term of one year and bound to obey the laws of this State," and Great Barrington voted "No" on the question "Whether, under the situation of this county, not having a new constitution, and other reasons, the laws of the State are to operate among us."

Some of the votes passed by town meetings during this