---
title: "James Bowdoin"
chunk: 4/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bowdoin"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:05:53.054160+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

After the legislature adjourned on July 18, 1786, without substantively addressing these complaints, rural Massachusetts protestors organized direct action, and began protest marches that shut down the state's court system, which enforced tax and civil forfeiture judgments and had become a focus of the discontent. Bowdoin issued a proclamation in early September denouncing these actions, but took no overt steps to immediately organize a militia response (unlike governors in neighboring Connecticut and New Hampshire). When the foreclosure court in Worcester was shut down by similar action on September 5, the county militia (composed mainly of men sympathetic to the protestors) refused to turn out, much to Bowdoin's chagrin. The closure of the Worcester court was followed by closings in Concord and Taunton, and when the militia marched into Great Barrington to force court open there, one of the Judges, William Whiting asked the militiamen to take sides. 800 of the 1,000 men took the people's side of the road. By October, one correspondent wrote, "We are now in a state of Anarchy and Confusion bordering on Civil War".
These court closings mirrored closings in 1774, when colonists had shut down the King's business everywhere west of Boston. Fearing a new Revolution, and continuing to ignore the farmers' petitions, Bowdoin and Samuel Adams and their legislature enacted a Riot Act, suspended habeas corpus, and passed a bill that unsuccessfully attempted to address the financial reasons for the protests. By January 1787, the protests, which began as demands for reform, had grown to become a direct attack on the "tyrannical government of Massachusetts". Hampshire County in particular (which then included what are now Hampden and Franklin Counties) had become a hotbed of rebellion, with leaders like Daniel Shays and Luke Day beginning to organize for an attack on government institutions.
Because the federal government had been unable to raise any significant number of troops and Bowdoin could no longer trust local militias in the western counties, he proposed in early January 1787 the creation of a private militia to be funded by eastern merchants. Revolutionary War General Benjamin Lincoln raised funds and men for the effort, and had 3,000 men in Worcester by January 19. A standoff at the Springfield Armory on January 25 resulted in the death of several rebels, and Lincoln broke the main rebel force on February 4 in Petersham, ending large-scale resistance.
The same day that Lincoln arrived at Petersham, the state legislature passed bills authorizing a state of martial law, giving the governor broad powers to act against the rebels. It also authorized state payments to reimburse Lincoln and the merchants who had funded the army, and authorized the recruitment of additional militia. On February 12 the legislature passed the Disqualification Act, seeking to prevent a legislative response by rebel sympathizers. This bill expressly forbade any acknowledged rebels from holding a variety of elected and appointed offices.
The crushing of the rebellion and the harsh terms of reconciliation imposed by the Disqualification Act all worked against Governor Bowdoin politically. In the election held in April 1787, Bowdoin received few votes from the rural parts of the state and was trounced by John Hancock.
In 1788 Bowdoin served as a member of the Massachusetts convention that ratified the United States Constitution. A strong supporter of Federalism, Bowdoin worked hard for its ratification, bringing a skeptical Samuel Adams and his supporters into the fold by inviting him to a dinner with other pro-ratification delegates, and offering Federalist support to John Hancock in future elections. Bowdoin's Federalist supporters backed Hancock in the 1789 election, even though Bowdoin also stood for election. He remained active in his charitable and scientific pursuits in his later years, continuing his leadership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as that of the Humane Society. He also continued to engage in new business ventures, buying in 1789 an interest in one of the first American merchant ships to sail to China.

== Death and legacy ==

He died in Boston on November 6, 1790, of "putrid fever and dysentery". Bowdoin's funeral was one of the largest of the time in Boston, with people lining the streets to view the funeral procession. He was interred in Boston's Granary Burying Ground. Among his bequests was a gift to Harvard College for awards that are now known as the Bowdoin Prizes. His son James III donated lands from the family estate in Brunswick, Maine, as well as funds and books, to establish Bowdoin College in his honor.
An orrery constructed by clockmaker Joseph Pope, now in Harvard's science department, includes bronze figures of Bowdoin and Benjamin Franklin that were supposedly cast by Paul Revere. (Bowdoin was responsible for having the device rescued when Pope's house caught fire in 1787.)
Landmarks bearing the Bowdoin name in Boston include Bowdoin Street, Bowdoin Square, and the Bowdoin MBTA station. Bowdoin, Maine, incorporated 1788, was named for Bowdoin; neighboring Bowdoinham, Maine (incorporated 1762) was named either for his grandfather Pierre or his brother William.

== Notes ==

== References ==

== Further reading ==
A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre. London: W. Bingley. 1770. OCLC 510892519. The colonists' account of the Boston Massacre, which Bowdoin was partly responsible for writing

== External links ==
 Works related to James Bowdoin at Wikisource