Constitution of Vermont (1777)

Vellum manuscript of the Constitution of Vermont, 1777. This constitution was amended in 1786, and again in 1793 following Vermont's admission to the federal union in 1791.
The Old Constitution House in Windsor, Vermont, where the constitution of the Vermont Republic was signed.

The first Constitution of Vermont was drafted in July 1777, almost five months after Vermont declared itself an independent country, now frequently called the Vermont Republic. It was in effect until its extensive revision in 1786. The second Constitution of Vermont went into effect in 1786 and lasted until 1793, two years after Vermont was admitted to the Union as the fourteenth state. In 1791 Vermont became the fourteenth US state and in 1793 it adopted its current constitution.

1777 Constitution

The 1777 constitution was the first in what is now the territory of the United States to prohibit adult slavery,[1][2] grant suffrage to non-landowning males, and establish free public education.

The constitution was adopted on July 8, 1777, at the tavern in Windsor now known as the Old Constitution House and administered as a state historic site. The constitution consisted of three main parts. The first was a preamble reminiscent of the United States Declaration of Independence:

It is absolutely necessary, for the welfare and safety of the inhabitants of this State, that it should be, henceforth, a free and independent State; and that a just, permanent, and proper form of government, should exist in it, derived from, and founded on, the authority of the people only, agreeable to the direction of the honorable American Congress.

(Here the term "American Congress" refers to the Continental Congress, not the later United States Congress consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, which had not yet been established.)

Chapter 1

The second part of the 1777 constitution was Chapter 1, a "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont." This chapter was composed of 19 articles guaranteeing various civil and political rights in Vermont:

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of the Constitution is called A Plan or Frame of Government.

Chapter 2 continues through 44 Sections.

1786 Constitution

The 1786 Constitution of Vermont established a greater separation of powers than what had prevailed under the 1777 Constitution. In particular, it forbade anyone to simultaneously hold more than one of certain offices: governor, lieutenant-governor, judge of the supreme court, treasurer of the state, member of the governor's council, member of the legislature, surveyor-general, or sheriff.[5] It also provided that the legislature could no longer function as a court of appeals nor otherwise intervene in cases before the courts, as it had often done.

The 1786 Constitution continued in effect when, in 1791, Vermont made the transition from independence to the status of one of the states of the Union. In particular, the governor, the members of the governor's council, and other officers of the state, including judges in all courts, simply continued their terms of office that were already underway.

1793 Constitution

The 1793 Constitution was adopted two years after Vermont's admission to the Union and continues in effect, with various later amendments, to this day. It eliminated all mention of grievances against King George III and against the State of New York. In 1790, New York's legislature finally renounced its claims that Vermont was a part of New York, the cessation of those claims being effective if and when Congress decided to admit Vermont.

See also

References

  1. "Vermont Constitution of 1777". Chapter I, Section I: State of Vermont. Retrieved 3 October 2016. Therefore, no male person, born in this country, or brought from over sea, ought to be holden by law, to serve any person, as a servant, slave, or apprentice, after he arrives to the age of twenty-one years; nor female, in like manner, after she arrives to the age of eighteen years, unless they are bound by their own consent, after they arrive to such age, or bound by law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like.
  2. 1 2 Cox, Lee Ann (January 2015), Revisiting vermont’s past and slavery (PDF), Humanities Magazine, Burlington, Vermont: University of Vermont, p. 30, retrieved 2016-04-01
  3. Harvey Amani Whitfield (2014). The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont. Vermont Historical Society.
  4. Bell, J. L. "How Long Did Slavery Linger in Vermont?". The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont, 1777–1810. Retrieved 12 February 2014. And nearly 60 years after the supposed abolition of slavery in Vermont, Ethan Allen’s daughter, Lucy Caroline Hitchcock [1768–1842], returned to Burlington from Alabama in possession of two slaves—a mother and child. Hitchcock continued to enslave this pair for six years in the Queen City.
  5. Vermont state archives, 1786 Constitution, Chapter II, Section XXIII, https://www.sec.state.vt.us/archives-records/state-archives/government-history/vermont-constitutions/1786-constitution.aspx#ChapterII

External links

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