General Court formally splits into two separate chambers.

[5/7] The split results from the failure of the two bodies to agree over the dispute between Goody Sherman and Robert Keayne brought before them in 1642. From this point on, the House of Deputies (formerly called the Assistants and later the Senate) and a House of Representatives meet separately and have veto power over one another’s decisions. In 1645, it is resolved that the speaker is to be “moderator of ye Howse of Deputies,” while the governor presides over the House of Assistants. An unsuccessful effort is made to reunite the two branches in 1646.