Province of Massachusetts Bay

The Province of Massachusetts Bay was created by royal charter on October 7, 1691, taking effect on May 14, 1692, when the crown merged the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, the Province of Maine, the Territory of Sagadahock, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket into a single royal province under a charter issued by William III and Mary II. The province was governed under royal authority, and the Massachusetts Government Act of 1774 dissolved its elected legislature, prompting the formation of the extralegal Massachusetts Provincial Congress that October. Massachusetts adopted the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, and the province formally ceased to exist when the Massachusetts Constitution was adopted on October 25, 1780, transforming it into the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Maine, part of the original province, separated as its own state in 1820. As a colony administered under royal charter and crown-appointed governors, it is grouped here among Kingdoms and Principalities, the closest available classification for a monarchical dependency pending a dedicated colonial-provinces category.