1780 Gubernatorial Election: Hancock vs Bowdoin
WaMS
The idea for the Massachusetts Constitution was first brought up in 1775 during the Continental Congress by future revolutionary and United States President John Adams. In 1778, Massachusetts General Court submitted the first State Constitution, but it was rejected. Then in September of 1779, a team consisting of John, his cousin Samuel and local merchant mogul James Bowdoin drafted a constitution to be submitted. It was presented on June 15, 1780 and was to be ratified in October. But someone needed to run the state in the meantime, so the first ever gubernatorial election was to be held on September 4th. Who were the contenders to the title? The election came down to local hero John Hancock and Bowdoin himself.
James Bowdoin was a Harvard University graduate and scientist friend of Benjamin Franklin. In the colonial era, the Governor was appointed by the British Parliament, but the Governor's council members were voted into office by the citizens. Bowdoin was elected to the council in 1756 who at first was an advocate for the Crown. Then shit hit the fan and he later turned radical. His son-in-law just happened to be Lt Governor John Temple of New Hampshire and Temple frequently butted heads with Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard in the 1760's. This led to a professional rivalry with Bowdoin and Bernard with Bowdoin wanting Bernard's spot. Not only was Bernard not giving it up brother! He couldn't give it up anyway since it was Parliament appointed. Bowdoin then used some underhanded tactics such as publishing private letters Bernard wrote disagreeing with the provincial government to cause public backlash in 1769. The radical Sons of Liberty were founded in 1765 to oppose the Stamp Act, which I'll get to shortly, and became a growing group of dissenters thereafter. In 1769, Bowdoin reached out to the Sons of Liberty to help him get rid of Bernard. They were successful, Thomas Hutchinson relieved Bernard and the city of Boston threw a party on August 1, 1769.
When Bowdoin rejoined the council in 1770, his seat in the lower house Massachusetts Assembly was taken by Sons of Liberty boss Samuel Adams. All of a sudden, Hutchinson now had Crown opposition in both houses. Things got even worse when the infamous Boston Massacre took place on March 5, 1770. While John Adams and several British supporting dignitaries took statements from the horrified and shaken British soldiers in the State House, the Sons of Liberty were rallying in Faneuil Hall getting statements from the citizens that were fired upon. James Bowdoin was a part of the committee there to investigate the incident. The ironically named "Patriots" then published their slanted version of the story, in which the British soldiers maniacally fired upon innocent American civilians for no reason. British Parliament and supporters were outraged as the truth was justttttt a little bit different. A group of rowdy civilians cornered the British soldiers, forcing them to defend themselves. Even though the Sons of Liberty pamphlet "A short narrative of the horrid massacre" was 90 percent hogwash, the public bought it enough to start turning on the Crown. Soon Bowdoin did the same thing to Hutchinson as he did to Bernard, publishing his private letters to the press. Hutchinson too was given the boot in May of 1774, but Parliament had had enough of the Patriots. British army general Thomas Gage became the new Governor, and he wasn't gonna take crap from anyone!
Gage's first order of business was to throw the radical Bowdoin out of the council. The second order was to ixnay the popular vote to who would be on the council, keeping the entire government Parliament elected. Naturally the Sons of Liberty weren't going to take that nonsense lying down. Once the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, a sickly Bowdoin convalesced until 1778 which caused him to miss the first Continental Congress. As a side note, one of the reasons the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution was originally instituted was British troops could barge in anywhere they wanted and set up shop. General John Burgoyne took over Bowdoin's mansion on Beacon Street during the war, the unmitigated audacity!
Still, even while recovering from illness, Bowdoin was kept abreast of the ongoing war and the United States declared their independence on July 4, 1776. When Bowdoin felt better, he was elected to be one of the main members of the new Massachusetts Provincial Congress. Even though Sons of Liberty member John Hancock was the de facto boss, Bowdoin was nevertheless just as important. As mentioned earlier, when the Massachusetts Constitution had to be written, he was on the three-man team to draft it with the Adams cousins. So, with the Constitution about to be ratified, it was time to elect a Governor. Bowdoin would be running against his Congress boss John Hancock.
John Hancock was one of the richest men in Boston, but it came at a terrible personal price. Hancock was born in Braintree and was a childhood acquaintance of John Adams, who Hancock's father had actually baptized. John Hancock Sr was a wealthy colonial pastor and plantation owner but unfortunately died when Hancock Jr was just seven years old. Young John was sent to live with his uncle Thomas Hancock who also was incredibly wealthy due to running an imported goods ring. John became his uncle's right-hand man after graduating from first Boston Latin, then Harvard University. When the French & Indian War broke out in the 1750's, business boomed with both the French and British needing goods from their respective countries. John eventually moved to London for a short time to rub elbows with not only suppliers but customers as well. Unfortunately, he returned to America with Thomas' health failing and Thomas died on August 1, 1764 leaving the 27 year old John as the heir apparent to the importing ring.
John began to radicalize when British Parliament instituted the Sugar Act to increase revenue in the colonies following the War. Hancock along with Massachusetts lawyer James Otis and Samuel Adams were the primary antagonists to the act. They all argued that they had no representation to defend themselves against this travesty of justice. If that wasn't bad enough, Parliament passed the infamous Stamp Act in 1765. Now anything paper related was to have a big fat British stamp on it whether it was official letters or simple playing cards. Anyone up for a game of Solitaire? It'll cost ya! Hancock, Adams and Otis collectively went "You gotta be kidding me." The trio then formed the Sons of Liberty, a radical group of colonials that were opposing the British Crown. To aid their own cause, Hancock was elected to be one of the five Massachusetts Selectmen. In 1766, Samuel Adams had become House of Representatives clerk and he had Hancock elected to the House as well. Though fifteen years older than Hancock, Adams and John shared a bond that carried the Sons of Liberty into the limelight as the years went on. The final straw for Hancock came in 1767 when Parliament instituted the Townshend Acts which in modern day terms meant "Customs". Hancock being a rumored smuggler on top of a legitimate importer was naturally the first to blow a gasket at the idea of the British having the legal right to board his ships for no reason. In 1768, British officials boarded his ship, Lydia and Hancock had his crew physically remove them from going below deck. Customs officials wanted to file charges but thankfully one of John Adams' friends was Attorney General Jonathan Sewall. Sewall argued Hancock had broken no law to get him off the hook.
British officials then harassed Hancock over his other ship, the Liberty, and once again Hancock said to hell with the Crown. With the Sons of Liberty just waiting for a reason to rally, they got it in the Boston Massacre. Hancock, Adams, James Bowdoin and others tore apart Faneuil Hall getting disposition from the civilians that were fired upon. In 1772, Hancock was elected to the Massachusetts Council by Thomas Hutchinson that already featured Bowdoin on it. The most famous radical rally came in 1773 when British Parliament instituted the Tea Act. Now the East India tea would be the official brand of the colonies whether they wanted it or not and, naturally, it would be taxed. Not so fast! The Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans and on December 16, 1773 charged aboard British merchant ships. They ended up throwing 342 chests of tea into the ocean which cost the Crown what would be considered 1.7 million dollars today.
As mentioned earlier, the British responded by appointing Thomas Gage the Governor of Massachusetts and throwing all the radicals out of the council for this treachery. Hancock was named the boss of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress which was operating without the consent of the Crown. In what later would be used in his Governor's race campaign, with Bowdoin out with illness, Hancock replaced him for the Second Continental Congress. In 1775, Gage was instructed to seize all arms in the colonies and to arrest both Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Gage actually refused to arrest the men, arguing that others would just take their place. However, the attempt of the seizure of arms led to the Battle of Lexington & Concord which sparked the Revolutionary War.
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, and Hancock famously signed his signature the largest so King George could read it without needing glasses. If he wasn't a cult hero already, this was the coup de grace to cement it. Following the war, things got testy between Samuel Adams and Hancock. Adams argued that the power should be to the people but here was Hancock acting like a king, wanting US army general George Washington to grant him a military escort back to Boston. Even worse, in 1778 Hancock was supposed to join French Admiral Charles d'Estaing in a raid on a British fort in Newport, Rhode Island. d'Estaing immediately retreated and most of the troops Hancock was in command of also tucked their tails and bravely fled. Still, this did little to derail his popularity and in 1780, it was time to elect Massachusetts first Governor.
and his opponent, also representing no party at all....John Hancock
Quite simply, Hancock BURIED Bowdoin 11,207 votes to just 1,033. He scored 91.5 percent of the vote in a straight butt whooping. After the election, Hancock offered the Lieutenant Governor role to Bowdoin, but James politely declined, citing failing health. Thomas Cushing, ironically the man who was voted out of Continental Congress due to him opposing independence, was named Lieutenant Governor.
Hancock and Cushing were together for five years before Hancock resigned in 1785, but that's a story for another day. As it was, the first Gubernatorial Election was a decisive victory in favor of John Hancock. The winner and new champion.
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