The Maryland Constitution of 1776 was the first of four constitutions under which the U.S. state of Maryland has been governed. It was that state's basic law from its adoption in 1776 until the Maryland Constitution of 1851 took effect on July 4 of that year.
In the months before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, a group of powerful Marylanders formed an association which eventually took the form of a convention in Annapolis. This group made preparations to form a new government for Maryland and sent representatives to participate in the Continental Congress. [1]
The eighth session decided that the continuation of an ad hoc government by the convention was not a good mechanism for governing the state and that a more permanent and structured government was needed. So, on July 3, 1776, they resolved that a new convention be elected that would be responsible for drawing up their first state constitution, one that did not refer to parliament or the king, but would be a government "...of the people only."
On August 1, all freemen with property elected delegates for the Maryland Constitutional Convention of 1776. They began meeting on August 14, drafted the constitution, and adjourned on November 11. The document was not submitted to the people for ratification. The Assembly of Freemen would not meet again, as it was replaced by the new state government established by the 1776 constitution. Thomas Johnson became the state's first elected governor. [2]
The document included a Declaration of Rights. This, among other things, ended the position of the Church of England as the state-supported religion, and granted all Christians, including Roman Catholics, freedom of worship. Free blacks who met the property qualifications continued to be eligible to vote. The declaration was more than a bill of rights, which enunciates certain rights which are reserved to the people. The declaration stated that all power emanated from the people and that the governors were accountable to the people.
The 1776 constitution defined the Maryland General Assembly, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Maryland House of Delegates and Maryland State Senate. It acknowledged the power of county governments in administering their own affairs, and called for separate treasurers and land registrars on Maryland's Eastern and Western Shores. The constitution stipulated that new amendments could be passed by two consecutive sessions of the house of delegates. [2]
Despite the declaration that all power emanates from the people, the document kept political power in the hands of the male citizens who met a minimum property requirement. When adopted, the 1776 constitution allowed 20,000 of the 300,000+ people living in Maryland to vote. [2]
Slaves and women could not vote, nor did they have equal rights to men. Only Christians could hold office until 1826, when legislation was adopted allowing Jews to hold office and have equal rights and privileges with Christians.
They directly elected delegates to the Maryland General Assembly and indirectly elected State Senators. Voters would elect Senatorial Electors every five years. These men would then meet together to elect a fifteen-member Senate, nine members from the Western Shore and six members from the Eastern Shore. If a Senate vacancy occurred between elections, then the Senate itself selected a replacement. The Governor was elected by the joint legislature, not by the people directly. And most local offices were appointed by the Governor, with the concurrence of his Executive Council. [2]
The 1776 constitution was amended 66 times, most notably in 1837, to, among other things, provide for a popularly elected governor, instead of one chosen by the legislature. The constitution was initially about 8,800 words long. The several amendments added to it between 1792 and 1846 brought its total length to about 15,200 words.
Black men who met the property requirement could vote until 1810, when the General Assembly ratified a constitutional amendment (approved by the 1809 assembly) to change "freemen" to "free white men" in Article 2 of the constitution. [3]
The Constitution of the State of Vermont is the fundamental body of law of the U.S. state of Vermont, describing and framing its government. It was adopted in 1793 following Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791 and is largely based upon the 1777 Constitution of the Vermont Republic which was drafted at Windsor in the Old Constitution House and amended in 1786. At 8,295 words, it is the shortest U.S. state constitution.
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual state governments that make up the United States of America. As a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1779, John Adams was the document's principal author. Voters approved the document on June 15, 1780. It became effective on October 25, 1780, and is among the oldest functioning written constitutions in continuous effect in the world. It was also the first constitution anywhere to be created by a convention called for that purpose rather than by a legislative body.
George Mason was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including substantial portions of the Fairfax Resolves of 1774, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, and his Objections to this Constitution of Government (1787) opposing ratification, have exercised a significant influence on American political thought and events. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed a father.
George Read was an American politician from New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, president of Delaware, and a member of the Federalist Party, who served as U.S. Senator from Delaware and chief justice of Delaware.
The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 was the state's first constitution following their declaration of independence and has been described as the most democratic in America; although it based rights in "men" not in "persons," as contemporaneous constitutions did in neighboring areas such as New Jersey, and as the 1689 English Bill of Rights and 1787 U.S. Constitution and 1791 U.S. Bill of Rights did. It was drafted by Robert Whitehill, Timothy Matlack, Dr. Thomas Young, George Bryan, James Cannon, and Benjamin Franklin. Pennsylvania's innovative and highly democratic government structure, featuring a unicameral legislature and collective executive, may have influenced the later French Republic's formation under the French Constitution of 1793. The constitution also included a declaration of rights that coincided with the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776.
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the colonial assembly, in addition to making laws, sat as a judicial court of appeals. Before the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, it was called the Great and General Court, but the official title was shortened by John Adams, author of the state constitution. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members. It meets in the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill in Boston.
The North Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets in the North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.
The Annapolis Convention was an Assembly of the Counties of Maryland that functioned as the colony's provincial government from 1774 to 1776 during the early days leading up to the American Revolution. After 1775, it was officially named the Assembly of Freemen.
The United States Constitution has served as the supreme law of the United States since taking effect in 1789. The document was written at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention and was ratified through a series of state conventions held in 1787 and 1788. Since 1789, the Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; particularly important amendments include the ten amendments of the United States Bill of Rights and the three Reconstruction Amendments.
The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourth constitution under which the state has been governed. It was amended in 2012.
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the document that defines and limits the powers of the state government and the basic rights of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Like all other state constitutions, it is supreme over Virginia's laws and acts of government, though it may be superseded by the United States Constitution and U.S. federal law as per the Supremacy Clause.
The Constitution of the State of North Carolina governs the structure and function of the state government of North Carolina, one of the United States; it is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. All U.S. state constitutions are, according to the United States Supreme Court, subject to federal judicial review; any provision can be nullified if it, in the view of a majority of the Justices of the Supreme Court, constituted from time to time, conflicts with the US Constitution or any federal law pursuant to the Constitution, even if the identical language was previously upheld as valid by the court.
The Constitution of the State of South Carolina is the governing document of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. The current constitution took effect on December 4, 1895. South Carolina has had six other constitutions, which were adopted in 1669, 1776, 1778, 1790, 1865 and 1868.
The Constitution of the State of New Hampshire is the fundamental law of the State of New Hampshire, with which all statute laws must comply. The constitution became effective June 2, 1784, when it replaced the state's constitution of 1776.
The Virginia Conventions have been the assemblies of delegates elected for the purpose of establishing constitutions of fundamental law for the Commonwealth of Virginia superior to General Assembly legislation. Their constitutions and subsequent amendments span four centuries across the territory of modern-day Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.
The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitution's provisions tend to be more detailed and amended more often than its federal counterpart. Because the history of the state constitution differs from the federal constitution, the New York Court of Appeals has seen fit to interpret analogous provisions differently from United States Supreme Court's interpretation of federal provisions.
The Constitution of the State of Wisconsin is the governing document of the U.S. State of Wisconsin. It establishes the structure and function of state government, describes the state boundaries, and declares the rights of state citizens. The Wisconsin Constitution was written at a constitutional convention held in Madison, Wisconsin, in December 1847 and approved by the citizens of Wisconsin Territory in a referendum held in March 1848. Wisconsin was admitted to the United States on May 29, 1848. Although it has been amended over a hundred times, the original constitution ratified in 1848 is still in use. This makes the Wisconsin Constitution the oldest U.S. state constitution outside of New England. Only Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island use older constitutions.
Connecticut is known as "The Constitution State". The origin of this title is uncertain, but the nickname is assumed to be a reference to the Fundamental Orders of 1638–39 which represent the framework for the first formal government written by a representative body in Connecticut. Connecticut's government has operated under the direction of five separate documents in its history. The Connecticut Colony at Hartford was governed by the Fundamental Orders, and the Quinnipiac Colony at New Haven had its own Constitution in The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony which was signed on June 4, 1639.
The Constitution of Indiana is the highest body of state law in the U.S. state of Indiana. It establishes the structure and function of the state and is based on the principles of federalism and Jacksonian democracy. Indiana's constitution is subordinate only to the U.S. Constitution and federal law. Prior to the enactment of Indiana's first state constitution and achievement of statehood in 1816, the Indiana Territory was governed by territorial law. The state's first constitution was created in 1816, after the U.S. Congress had agreed to grant statehood to the former Indiana Territory. The present-day document, which went into effect on November 1, 1851, is the state's second constitution. It supersedes Indiana's 1816 constitution and has had numerous amendments since its initial adoption.
The Maryland Declaration of Rights is series of statements establishing certain rights for people in Maryland. The Declaration of Rights opens the Maryland Constitution and has appeared in some form in all Maryland Constitutions since the first version in 1776. The Declaration began with 42 distinct articles and now, after amendments, contains 47. These include the guarantee of free speech, protection for people involved in legal cases, a prohibition on monopolies, and, by 1972 amendment, equal rights for the sexes under the law.
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