Each block on this histogram represents a change—e.g., a substantive change, repeal & replace, or renumbering—to an individual section rather than an amendment. Some amendments result in multiple changes, resulting in multiple blocks being attributed to one amendment. Likewise, a section may be amended more than once in an year, but these amendments will only appear as one block on the histogram. When a block or blocks are marked red in a specific year, that means that a new constitution went into effect that year.
The Constitution’s provisions are organized into Parts, which may be further divided in Chapters and Sections, and these parts contain the operative Articles that make up the primary provisions of the Constitution. Here, you can view an outline of the Constitution, see the Constitution’s full text as it stood on any date since ratification, and compare any amended provision of the Constitution to its earlier version.
Explore by Year
View the constitution’s amendments by year of adoption.
The Massachusetts Constitution & Its Amendments
The Massachusetts Constitution is the oldest U.S. state constitution still in effect today. Adopted in 1780, it is older even than the U.S. Constitution, which was ratified in 1788. The Massachusetts Constitution can be amended by three methods: legislatively-referred, indirect citizen-initiated, and convention referred constitutional-amendments.
Massachusetts State Capitol. Carol M. Highsmith.
Additional Resources Access links to commonly referenced sources in Massachusetts constitutional research.
Access links to commonly referenced sources in Massachusetts constitutional research.