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Delaware Constitution of 1776
The Delaware Constitution of 1776 was the first governing document for Delaware state government and was in effect from its adoption in September 1776 until its replacement by the 1792 constitution.
On June 15, 1776, at the urging of Patriot leader Thomas McKean, the General Assembly "suspended government under the Crown", effectively ending the Proprietary government in the Lower Counties, as Delaware was then known. After the passage of the United States Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly met in July 1776 and enacted legislation calling for the August 1776 election of a State Constitutional Convention. There were to be ten members from each county.
The convention met in New Castle on August 27, 1776. George Read was elected its President and Thomas McKean was a major contributor to the content of the finished product. The writing was quickly finished and put into effect upon its adoption September 20, 1776, by the convention, less than a month later. It was never submitted for popular approval and was the first state constitution written by a convention elected for that purpose subsequent to the Declaration of Independence. The convention dissolved itself after it had drafted the constitution, unlike previous states whose convention became the legislature.
The members of the convention were generally moderates or conservatives[citation needed] who sought to keep the government as close to the existing one as possible. The major change was the replacement of the Proprietary Governor with an executive privy council, chaired by a president. A second house of the legislature was created as well. Both measures were meant to restrict the perceived arbitrary exercise of executive authority.
The first independent General Assembly was elected and convened in October 1776, and elected the Privy Council and its President in January 1777.
The name was to be The Delaware State. It replaced the old awkward, The Counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex upon Delaware, and its more common informal abbreviation, the Lower Counties of Delaware.
The Legislature was called the General Assembly of Delaware and was to meet at least once every year. Only freeholders were eligible for election.
The upper house of the General Assembly was called The Legislative Council, and consisted of nine persons, three persons from each county, popularly elected every third year by the freeholders of the county. They served for a term of three years, except that two of the first persons chosen from each county were chosen for shorter terms to establish the cycle. As a result, there was to be one term expiring each year in each county.
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Delaware Constitution of 1776
The Delaware Constitution of 1776 was the first governing document for Delaware state government and was in effect from its adoption in September 1776 until its replacement by the 1792 constitution.
On June 15, 1776, at the urging of Patriot leader Thomas McKean, the General Assembly "suspended government under the Crown", effectively ending the Proprietary government in the Lower Counties, as Delaware was then known. After the passage of the United States Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly met in July 1776 and enacted legislation calling for the August 1776 election of a State Constitutional Convention. There were to be ten members from each county.
The convention met in New Castle on August 27, 1776. George Read was elected its President and Thomas McKean was a major contributor to the content of the finished product. The writing was quickly finished and put into effect upon its adoption September 20, 1776, by the convention, less than a month later. It was never submitted for popular approval and was the first state constitution written by a convention elected for that purpose subsequent to the Declaration of Independence. The convention dissolved itself after it had drafted the constitution, unlike previous states whose convention became the legislature.
The members of the convention were generally moderates or conservatives[citation needed] who sought to keep the government as close to the existing one as possible. The major change was the replacement of the Proprietary Governor with an executive privy council, chaired by a president. A second house of the legislature was created as well. Both measures were meant to restrict the perceived arbitrary exercise of executive authority.
The first independent General Assembly was elected and convened in October 1776, and elected the Privy Council and its President in January 1777.
The name was to be The Delaware State. It replaced the old awkward, The Counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex upon Delaware, and its more common informal abbreviation, the Lower Counties of Delaware.
The Legislature was called the General Assembly of Delaware and was to meet at least once every year. Only freeholders were eligible for election.
The upper house of the General Assembly was called The Legislative Council, and consisted of nine persons, three persons from each county, popularly elected every third year by the freeholders of the county. They served for a term of three years, except that two of the first persons chosen from each county were chosen for shorter terms to establish the cycle. As a result, there was to be one term expiring each year in each county.