The General Assembly of New York, commonly known internationally as the New York General Assembly, and domestically simply as General Assembly, was the supremelegislative body of the Province of New York during its period of proprietal colonialship and the legislative body of the Province during its period as a crown colony. It was the representative governing body in New York until April 3, 1775, when the Assembly disbanded after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.[1]
The New York General Assembly was first convened on October 17, 1683, during the governorship of Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, which passed an act entitled "A Charter of Liberties" that decreed that the supreme legislative power under the Duke of York (later King James II) shall reside in a governor, council, and the people convened in general assembly; conferred upon the members of the assembly rights and privileges making them a body coequal to and independent of the English Parliament; established town, county, and general courts of justice; solemnly proclaimed the right of religious liberty; and passed acts enunciating certain constitutional liberties, e.g. taxes could be levied only by the people met in general assembly; right of suffrage; and no martial law or quartering of the soldiers without the consent of the inhabitants.[2]
The Assembly grew to twenty-seven members,[lower-alpha 1] elected by voice vote by the people once every seven years and the districts they represented. The representatives terms were originally at the will of the governor and new elections were ordered as it suited his interests. A law was passed that limited member's terms to three years, but it was annulled by King George III. The Septennial Act was passed in 1743, and remained in force till the revolution.[4]
The General Assembly elected a speaker from their own ranks, chose their own clerk, and published their own journal. The Assembly had the sole right of originating all laws granting appropriations of money, and, during Governor William Cosby's administration, which was defined by political struggles and is known as one of the most oppressive royal placeholders, they withheld his compensation in an attempt to bring him closer to their desires.[4] Reportedly, "these quarrels had considerably subsided before the revolution; but they doubtless had an influence beneficial to liberty, by introducing political discussions, and imparting a knowledge of the tendencies of irresponsible power."[4]
The General Assembly continued until May 1775. Among its last acts was the adoption of petitions to the king and Parliament of Great Britain, in which, while they "professed a warm attachment to the royal person and government, they solemnly protested against the aggressions that had for years been gaining upon the rights of the people, and expressed, quite as strongly as was then avowed by the patriots of the day, the sentiments advocated in the revolution."[4]
Robert Livingston the Elder was a Scottish-born merchant and government official in the Province of New York. He was granted a patent to 160,000 acres of land along the Hudson River, becoming the first lord of Livingston Manor.
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, from the prominent Van Rensselaer family, was Lieutenant Governor of New York and a member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing New York in the 1st United States Congress.
Pieter Schuyler was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions – twice for brief periods in 1709, after the death of Lord Lovelace, and also from 1719 to 1720, after Robert Hunter left office.
Jeremias van Rensselaer was the third son of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company who was instrumental in the establishment of New Netherland and was created the first patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck. Jeremias van Rensselaer was the acting patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, and the first of his family to establish himself permanently in America.
Abraham Ten Broeck was a New York politician, businessman, and militia Brigadier General of Dutch descent. He was twice Mayor of Albany, New York and built one of the largest mansions in the area, the Ten Broeck Mansion, that still stands more than 200 years later.
Hendrick van Rensselaer was director of the Eastern patent of the Rensselaerswyck manor. The estate was composed of land in Columbia County, New York, and land opposite Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, named Greenbush.
Stephen van Rensselaer II was the sixth and youngest child of Stephen van Rensselaer I and Elizabeth Groesbeck. He served as Lord of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck.
Colonel Kiliaen van Rensselaer was a colonial American soldier and politician who was a member of the prominent Van Rensselaer family.
Johannes Pieterse van Brugh (1624–1697) was one of the early settlers of New Netherland and is the progenitor of the Van Brugh family in the United States. He was prominently connected with the Dutch West India Company as a fur and timber trader in both Rensselaerswyck and New Amsterdam.
Johannes Schuyler Jr. was a prominent American of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York, from 1740 to 1741, and was a merchant, alderman, and Indian commissioner. Schuyler married Cornelia van Cortlandt. Her family offered a large dowry to Schuyler and a large inheritance. Together, they were the parents of ten children.
Volkert Petrus Douw was a merchant and politician from Albany, New York, who was prominent both during colonial times and after the United States was established.
Cornelis Cuyler or Cornelius Cuyler was a prominent American of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York, from 1742 to 1746.
Myndert Schuyler was a colonial trader and merchant with extensive real estate holdings who served as Mayor of Albany, New York, twice between 1719 and 1725.
Johannes Cuyler was a prominent American merchant of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York, from 1725 to 1726.
Johannes Van Rensselaer was a member of the prominent colonial Van Rensselaer family.
William Nicoll Jr. was an English-American colonial merchant and politician who served as the Speaker of the New York General Assembly.
Lt.-Col. Hubertus "Gilbert" Livingston was a younger son of Robert Livingston the Elder who was a lawyer and politician in colonial New York.
Maj. Robert Gilbert Livingston was an American merchant and a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War.
Henry Gilbert Livingston was an American doctor and politician from New York state.
Levinius Van Schaick was a Dutch-American merchant and politician who served in the New York General Assembly.
References
Notes
↑ By 1775, thirty-nine Assemblymen represented sixteen districts made up of Counties and Manors.[3]
↑ Van Cortlandt Manor was originally a 86,000-acre (35,000ha) tract granted as a Patent to Stephanus Van Cortlandt in 1697 by King William III, stretching from the Hudson River on the west to the first boundary line between the Province of New York and the Colony of Connecticut, on the east, twenty English miles in length by ten in width, in shape nearly a rectangular parallelogram, forming, "The Manor of Cortlandt."[5]
↑ Livingston Manor was a 160,000 acre (650 square kilometres (250sqmi)) tract of land granted to Robert Livingston the Elder and confirmed by royal charter of George I of Great Britain in 1715, creating the manor and lordship of Livingston.[6] The original patent was obtained in July 1686.[7]
↑ The Manor of Rensselaerwyck was, first, a Dutch patroonship and, later, an English manor. The estate was originally deeded by the Dutch West India Company to merchant Kiliaen van Rensselaer in 1630. Rensselaerswyck extended for miles on each side of the Hudson River near present-day Albany. It included most of what are now the present New York counties of Albany and Rensselaer, as well as parts of Columbia and Greene counties.[8]
↑ No journals or records of names of members of general assembly, between 1683 and 1691, are preserved. The duration of office of members, previous to 1743, was unlimited and dependent upon the will of the governor; and this power of convening, proroguing and dissolving the assembly was frequently exercised to procure a compliance with the wishes of the executive.[4]
↑ Livingston, James D.; Penney, Sherry H. (March 1987). "The Breakup of Livingston Manor"(PDF). The Hudson Valley Regional Review. 4 (1): 56–73. Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
1 2 Clifford Buck and William McDermott, "Eighteenth Century Documents of the Nine Partners Patent Dutchess County, New York", Collections of the Dutchess County Historical Society, Vol. X, Gateway Press, 1979.
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