Amos Singletary

He was angered by perceived Federalist arrogance surrounding the adoption of the Constitution and thought that it provided too much power to the national government.

He was the first male birth in the town, the youngest son of Mary Grelee (or Greele) and John Singletary, a farmer and tithingman.

[3] Singletary never attended school and learned only at home; despite this, town annals published in 1970 note that he was a keen learner in later life.

[6] In late 1747, several dozen churchgoers, including Singletary, broke off from the First Church of Sutton and formed their own in a part of town that is now Millbury.

[12] On January 5, 1775, Singletary was elected to be a delegate of Sutton to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in Cambridge held on February 1.

[19] The town of Sutton selected Singletary as part of a committee to try to mediate between active rebels and the state government, which had sent thousands of troops to suppress the uprising.

[5] He and David Harwood became the delegates from Sutton on December 10, 1787, to the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention in Boston which began on January 9 of the next year.

He argued that the federal government's powers under the Constitution would be similar to those held by Great Britain, from which they had just won independence.

[25] Other demands included opposition to a standing army and stricter term limits to avoid life tenure.

[27] The Centinel quoted:[28]My honorable old daddy there [pointing to Singletary] won't think that I expect to be a Congressman, and swallow up the liberties of the people.

I don't suspect that they want to get into Congress and abuse their power.Although Singletary was not the only delegate to voice opposition,[23] Massachusetts ratified the Constitution on February 7, 1788, with a 187–168 vote.