12. JOHN HANCOCK ELECTION BROADSIDE Broadside: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1p., 12 1/2" x 9 1/4", signed John Hancock twice in print, January 6, 1789, Boston: printed by Adams and Nourse, embossed state seal affixed at upper left. Completed in manuscript and signed twice by John Avery, as Secretary. In part: "...in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to will and require you, forthwith, in manner as the law directs for calling Town-Meetings, to cause the freeholders and other inhabitants...to assemble on Thursday the twenty-ninth of January current, to give in the votes for a Representative...to represent the said district in the Congress of the United States...". With a certification stating that Nathaniel Gorham and Elbridge Gerry have received the greatest number of votes in the said district. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was a unicameral body in which each state was equally represented, and in which each state had a veto over most action. States could, and did, ignore what did pass. The ineffectiveness of the federal government under the Articles led Congress to summon the Convention of 1787. One of the most divisive issues facing the Convention was the structure of Congress. James Madison's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress; the lower house would be elected directly by the people, and the upper house would be elected by the lower house. The plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states. Eventually, a compromise, known as the Connecticut Compromise or the Great Compromise was reached; one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would provide proportional representation, whereas the other (the Senate) would provide equal representation. To preserve further the authority of the states, the compromise proposed that state legislatures, rather than the people, would elect senators. The Constitution was ratified by the end of 1788, and its full implementation was set for March 4, 1789. Light folds, otherwise fine.$2,500-3,000