Editing Amherst, Massachusetts (section)

==History==
[[File:Amherst & Sunderland streetcar, Amherst, 1903.jpg|left|thumb|A streetcar for the [[Amherst and Sunderland Street Railway]] crosses Amherst Center, in front of the town hall, {{circa|1903}}.]]The earliest known document of the lands now comprising Amherst is the deed of purchase dated December 1658 between John Pynchon of Springfield and three native inhabitants, referred to as Umpanchla, Quonquont, and Chickwalopp.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carpenter |first1=Edward Wilson |last2=Charles Frederick Morehouse |year=1896 |title=The History of the Town of Amherst, Massachusetts |location=Amherst, Mass. |publisher=Press of Carpenter & Morehouse |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historytownamhe01moregoog/page/n15 1]–2 |oclc=11223569 |url=https://archive.org/details/historytownamhe01moregoog |access-date=20 July 2015}}</ref> According to the deed, "ye Indians of Nolwotogg (Norwottuck) upon ye River of Quinecticott (Connecticut)" sold the entire area in exchange for "two Hundred fatham of [[Wampam]] & Twenty fatham, and one large Coate at Eight fatham wch Chickwollop set of, of trusts, besides severall small giftes" {{sic}}.

Amherst was first visited by Europeans no later than 1665, when [[Nathaniel Dickinson (pioneer)|Nathaniel Dickinson]] surveyed the lands for its mother town [[Hadley, Massachusetts|Hadley]]. The first permanent English settlements arrived in 1727.  It remained a part of Hadley, even when it gained precinct status in 1734, before becoming a [[Township (United States)|township]] in 1759.

When it incorporated, the colonial governor assigned the town the name "Amherst" after [[Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst]]. Many a colonial governor at the time scattered his name during the influx of new town applications, which is why several towns in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] bear the name. Amherst was Commander-in-Chief of the forces of North America during the [[French and Indian War]] who, according to popular legend, singlehandedly won Canada for the British and banished France from North America. Popular belief has it that he supported the American side in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] and resigned his commission rather than fight for the British. Baron Amherst actually remained in the service of the Crown during the war—albeit in Great Britain rather than North America—where he organized the defense against the proposed Franco-Spanish [[Armada of 1779]]. Nonetheless, his previous service in the French and Indian War meant he remained popular in New England. Amherst is also infamous for recommending, in a letter to a subordinate, the use of [[smallpox]]-covered blankets in warfare against the Native Americans along with any "other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race".<ref>{{Cite web |first=Peter |last=d'Errico |title=Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets |publisher=Peter d'Errico's Law Page |url=http://people.umass.edu/derrico/amherst/lord_jeff.html |access-date=20 July 2015}}</ref> For this reason, there have been occasional ad hoc movements to rename the town.<ref>{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Merzbach |title=Belchertown man wants Amherst's town name banished|url=https://www.gazettenet.com/Belchertown-man-suggests-Amherst-change-its-offensive-name-11947746 |newspaper=[[Daily Hampshire Gazette]] |access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref>

Amherst celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009. The Amherst 250th Anniversary Celebration Committee and Amherst Historical Society organized events, including a book published by the Historical Society and written by Elizabeth M. Sharpe, ''Amherst A to Z''.

In 2021 the City Council voted to establish the [[Amherst African Heritage Reparation Assembly]] to study reparations for the town's black residents. In 2022, at the Assembly's suggestion, the City Council approved $2,000,000 of initial funding for reparations.

===History of town government ===
The Town converted from an [[open town meeting]] to a [[representative town meeting]] form in 1938.<ref name="ALWV-YAG">Amherst League of Women Voters, [http://www.lwvamherst.org/sites/default/files/YourAmherstGovernment-reduced.pdf "Your Amherst Government"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063826/http://www.lwvamherst.org/sites/default/files/YourAmherstGovernment-reduced.pdf |date=March 5, 2018 }} (2009).</ref> In 1953, Amherst voters passed the "Town Manager Act", which established the office of a town manager and reduced a number of elected positions.<ref name="ALWV-YAG" /> In 1995, a charter commission was approved to study Amherst's government; the charter majority recommended a seven-person Council and a mayor, while also maintaining a reduced size representative Town Meeting (150).<ref>[http://www.votenooncharter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/1996-Charter-Commission-Report.pdf 1996 Charter Commission Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802200348/http://www.votenooncharter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/1996-Charter-Commission-Report.pdf |date=2018-08-02 }}.</ref> This proposal failed in two successive votes.<ref name="ALWV-YAG" />

In 2001, the [[League of Women Voters]] Amherst made a number of recommendations that were adopted in 2001 in the form of a revised "Amherst Town Government Act".<ref>[http://www.lwvamherst.org/sites/default/files/75thProgramBook.pdf League of Women Voters of Amherst 75th Anniversary Program"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304173503/http://www.lwvamherst.org/sites/default/files/75thProgramBook.pdf |date=March 4, 2018 }}, p.11.</ref> An effort shortly thereafter to amend the charter to eliminate the town meeting, and establish an elected mayor and a nine-member Town Council,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.votenooncharter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2002-Charter-Commission-Report.pdf|title=2002 Charter Commission Report|publisher=votenooncharter.org|access-date=2018-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802200356/http://www.votenooncharter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2002-Charter-Commission-Report.pdf|archive-date=2018-08-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> was rejected by voters twice, first in spring 2003 by fourteen votes and again on March 29, 2005 by 252 votes.

In 2016, a charter commission was approved to study Amherst's government. A majority of commissioners proposed a charter that would establish a 13-member council with no mayor.<ref>Amherst League of Women Voters, [http://www.lwvamherst.org/sites/default/files/LWV_final_version.pdf "League of Women Voters Offers Evaluative Criteria"].</ref><ref>Amherst Charter Commission, [https://www.amherstma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/41986 "Final Report and Home Rule Charter"].</ref> This proposal was voted on the March 27, 2018 local ballot,<ref>Amherst, Massachusetts, town website, [https://www.amherstma.gov/2248/Charter-Commission "Charter Commission"] (last visited March 4, 2018).</ref> and was passed by over 1,000 votes, a 58% majority.<ref>[https://www.gazettenet.com/Amherst-residents-decide-fate-of-charter-proposal-16453548 "Amherst voters approve charter change in historic election"], ''[[Daily Hampshire Gazette]]'' (last visited August 18, 2018).</ref> The new town council was sworn in on December 2, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amherstma.gov/Calendar.aspx?EID=15612 |title=Amherst Town Council Inauguration Celebration |access-date=April 25, 2019 }}</ref>