The Massachusetts Constitution, adopted in 1780, is the oldest still-governing constitution of any state or country in the world. A constitution is a document stating the basic laws of government and the rights of its citizens.
The Massachusetts Constitution was adopted in 1780, during the Revolutionary War. It was written by James Bowdoin, Samuel Adams and John Adams. John Adams, who wrote most of it, is considered the foremost expert on constitutional law of the time. It was a model for the United States Constitution, which was written seven years later, and for the governing rights and rules for several other states.
Massachusetts relied on the rights written in its Constitution to declare slavery unlawful in 1783, eight decades before the Civil War.
The Massachusetts Constitution allows private citizens to file legislation, called "the right of free petition," a rarity among the states.
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