The Massachusetts Provincial Congress (1774–1780) was a provisional government created in the Province of Massachusetts Bay early in the American Revolution. Based on the terms of the colonial charter, it exercised de facto control over the rebellious portions of the province, and after the British withdrawal from Boston in March 1776, the entire province. When Massachusetts Bay declared its independence in 1776, the Congress continued to govern under this arrangement for several years. Increasing calls for constitutional change led to a failed proposal for a constitution produced by the Congress in 1778, and then a successful constitutional convention that produced a constitution for the state in 1780. The Provincial Congress came to an end with elections in October 1780.

Termination of the provincial assembly

On May 20, 1774, the Parliament of Great Britain passed the Massachusetts Government Act in an attempt to better assert its authority in the often troublesome colony. In addition to annulling the provincial charter of Massachusetts, the act prescribed that, effective August 1, the members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council would no longer be elected by the provincial assembly, and would instead be appointed by the King and hold office at his pleasure.

In October 1774, Governor Thomas Gage dissolved the provincial assembly, then meeting in Salem, under the terms of the Government Act. The members of the assembly met anyway, adjourning to Concord and organizing themselves as a Provincial Congress on October 7, 1774. With John Hancock as its president, this extralegal body became the de facto government of Massachusetts outside of Boston. It assumed all powers to rule the province, collect taxes, buy supplies, and raise a militia. Hancock sent Paul Revere to the First Continental Congress with the news that Massachusetts had established the first autonomous government of the Thirteen Colonies. (The North Carolina Provincial Congress met earlier than the Massachusetts Congress, although North Carolina's body did not establish an actual government until 1775.)

Until the advent of the American Revolutionary War the congress frequently moved its meeting site, because a number of its leaders (John Hancock and Samuel Adams among them) were liable to be arrested by British authorities.

War years After the war began, the provincial congress established a number of committees to manage the rebel activity in the province, starting with the need to supply and arm the nascent Continental Army that besieged Boston after the April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord. Pursuant to recommendations of the Second Continental Congress, it in 1775 declared that a quorum of the council (which under the colonial charter acted as governor in the absence of both the governor and lieutenant governor) would be sufficient to make executive decisions. Although the assembly adjourned from time to time, the council remained in continuous session until the new state constitution was introduced in 1780.

This arrangement was only marginally satisfactory, and led to calls for a proper constitution as early as 1776. By 1778, these calls had widened, particularly in Berkshire County, where a protest in May of that year prevented the Superior Court from sitting.

These calls for change led to a failed proposal for a constitution produced by the congress in 1778, and then a successful constitutional convention that produced a constitution for the state in 1780. The provisional government came to an end with elections in October 1780.

Conventions of the People in 1774

In 1774 there were conventions held in the counties of Massachusetts in order to deal with the political crisis at the time. With the dismissal of the Provincial Assembly by the Royal Governor Thomas Gage the people of Massachusetts with patriot sympathies desired to form their own provisional government.Lincoln 1838 p.611. Much like the Massachusetts Convention of Towns which met in Boston in 1768, these conventions were extralegal assemblies designed to address the concerns of the people of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. These meetings drafted their political causes for their convening and other grievances. These conventions, later styled "Conventions of the People", set the stage for the Provincial Congress and acted as its precursors.Lincoln 1838, p.601.

Suffolk Convention

The Suffolk County convention took place in private homes in Dedham and Milton. Joseph Warren served as Chairman. The convention condemned the unconstitutional acts of the royal government (Massachusetts Government Act) and the presence of the British military in Boston.

Nineteen resolutions were passed at the convention. Firstly, the convention acknowledged that King George III was the rightful monarch of the British Realm, and that the colonists were the lawful subjects of the Crown. Further, that the rights and liberties afforded to them were hard fought and that it was the colonists' duty to defend, maintain, and hand down those rights. The then-recent acts of the British Parliament were stated as subverting the rights of the people, including the dissolution of the Provincial Assembly, the blockade of Boston Harbor, the subversion of legal protection, and presence of British troops in Boston. The rights of the colonists were deemed natural, constitutional, and guaranteed by the charter of the province. The convention stated the Province was not required to follow or abide by those acts and laws because they were the result of a "wicked administration"Lincoln 1838, p.603. seeking to "enslave America."Lincoln 1838, p.603. All justices, magistrates, or officials in general which were appointed by the provincial government were deemed illegitimate and unconstitutional, and that anyone who cooperated with the said government were acting and collaborating with an enemy force. Further, all officers whose duty it was to make payment to the state ought not to make it to the civil government before there was a constitutional replacement, and that any person who has accepted a position in the civil government, not by constitutional means but by "virtue of a mandamus from the king" had affronted the people of Massachusetts and became the enemies of the people of the colony. Therefore, the convention gave until September for all officials to resign their position.Lincoln 1838, p.603.

The convention stated the fortifications that were built on Boston Neck were acts of aggression against the people. The commander-in-chief of the British forces had also acted unjustly by seizing gunpowder from the Charlestown magazine, as it was not the property of the government. The convention also condemned an act in Canada which enacted French laws and established the Roman Catholic religion. The convention said that these laws were hostile to the Protestant people of all America, and dangerous to their civil liberties. The convention also declared that all officers should be stripped of their commissions, and that new officers shall be selected by their respective towns based on ability. They went on to declare that the colonists would continue to act in the defensive to protect themselves.Lincoln 1838, p. 604.

It was further stated at the convention through resolution that as long as those who were fighting for the rights of their countrymen were being apprehended, officials of the government would be seized and held until the release of such persons. There was also a call to further boycott any and all merchandise that was the result of commerce with Great Britain, or any of its crown territories in the West Indies and Ireland. The convention formed a local committee whose purpose was to organize local manufacturers and artisans in order to promote their goods.

The Suffolk Convention called for a Provincial Congress to be called and that such a congress would align with the Continental Congress in Philadelphia until all rights are restored. There was further call to abstain from any violent acts which might damage private property in the province. The convention further went on to state that the committees of correspondence shall be dispatched in the event of invasion or emergency.Lincoln 1838, p. 605.

Middlesex Convention

The Middlesex County Convention took place in Concord in August 1774, with James Prescott serving as Chairman and Ebenezer Bridge serving as Clerk. The delegates resolved to say that the recent acts of the British Parliament are tyrannical and go against any notion of jurisprudence. The delegates reiterated their loyalty to the Crown, however they maintained their duty to protect their rights that had been granted through the Massachusetts Charter. The charter, said the convention, equally binds the colonists and the Crown, and that the acts of Parliament have broken that trust. The convention stated that their existed an unequal relationship between the colonists in New England and the government in Great Britain due to the severing of privileges without the colonists having the ability to respond politically.Lincoln 1838, p. 613.Lincoln 1838 p. 611. They also stated that because of this unequal relationship, and the subverting of the civil government through the Massachusetts Government Act that there can be no freedom for the people of Massachusetts as there is no true representative governmental body. This is further exacerbated, the convention claimed, by the removal of a just system of law with fair and independent jury trials. The delegates went on to express their view that this new order was a form of despotism which strips them of all liberty.Lincoln 1838, p.614.

The convention called into question the legality of a sworn official serving in the colonial civil government calling them unconstitutional, therefore no person was obliged to follow their authority. The courts and all the motions and cases which are products of them were also deemed to be unconstitutional and therefore were not legitimate in any way. The convention declared their support for the establishment of a Provincial Assembly in which delegates from each town would go and be represented.Lincoln 1838, p.614.

Essex Convention

The Essex County convention was held in on September 6 and September 7 in Ipswich with Jeremiah Lee serving as Chairman and John Pickering Jr. as Clerk.Lincoln 1838, p.617. The delegates resolved that the Parliament of Great Britain has passed acts detrimental to all the colonies in North America but to the Province of Massachusetts Bay in particular. The convention described these acts and the actions of the local Royal civil government as being overzealous, unconstitutional, and threatening to the peace of the colony. The delegates declared that their inalienable rights which are granted to them as Englishmen were under threat. The convention declared the courts and local officials serving under the Royal administration as unlawful and unconstitutional. The delegates called for the formation of a local assembly to be called so as to have their guaranteed rights restored. The delegates declared their loyalty to the Crown however said they would act to ensure that their rights and liberties would not go on being tarnished.Lincoln 1838, p.618.

Hampshire Convention