Document Signed by Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, Who Signed the Declaration of Independence

He names John Bacon, an early advocate for equal rights for black people and native Americans

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Elected to the Second Continental Congress, Gerry signed both the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. He was one of three men who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 who refused to sign the U.S. Constitution because it did not then include a Bill of Rights. After its ratification he was...

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Document Signed by Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, Who Signed the Declaration of Independence

He names John Bacon, an early advocate for equal rights for black people and native Americans

Elected to the Second Continental Congress, Gerry signed both the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. He was one of three men who attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787 who refused to sign the U.S. Constitution because it did not then include a Bill of Rights. After its ratification he was elected to the first U.S. Congress, where he was actively involved in drafting and passage of the Bill of Rights. From 1810-1812, he served as Governor of Massachusetts. Chosen by President James Madison as his vice presidential candidate in 1812, Gerry was elected, but died a year and a half into his term.

Document signed, as Governor, Boston, June 28, 1811, appointing John Bacon a Justice of the Peace for Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Bacon, a Harvard graduate, was for years pastor of the famed Old South Church in Boston. Members of the congregation of that church have included Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin. In 1773, during Bacon’s tenure, Adams gave the signals from the Old South Meeting House for the “war whoops” that started the Boston Tea Party. In 1778, at the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, Bacon was the leading voice for considering Negroes and Indians as citizens and giving them the right to vote.

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