 He noted that

Up to that point, the Massachusetts Constitution had been amended 13 times, and some of those provisions had rendered parts of the document's original body inoperative.Boutwell asserted that "Constitutional laws should be plain, that they may be impartially interpreted and faithfully executed, 'that every man may at all times find his security in them'".Adopted by the Convention and to be submitted to the people for a vote was a new Constitution overhauling that of 1780.