CHAPTER VI

STATE GOVERNMENTS

Colonial Government. When the War of the Revolution began there were among the English colonies three distinct kinds of colonial government. These may be named by the manner in which the governor was chosen, as royal, proprietary, and democratic (or republican). A governor appointed by the king was the chief executive officer in royal colonies, of which there were eight at the time of the War of the Revolution. Proprietary colonies were the results of large grants of land which the kings of England had for various reasons given to certain individuals. With these grants was often given authority to organize civil governments. The proprietor in such cases had the power of appointing and removing the governor. He might also veto any of the governor's acts as well as those of the legislature, which the governor was authorized to call. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, the Carolinas, and Maryland were originally proprietary colonies; Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland were still proprietary colonies at the time of the war. Republican1 colonies had charters granted by the king, in which a large

1 These colonies are usually called charter colonies, which is inexact, as proprietary colonies also had charters. Massachusetts, originally republican, had a charter which placed her in a better position than other royal colonies.

See Fiske's "Civil Government," p. 160.

measure of self-government was given them. In such colonies one of the chief privileges was the selection of the governor. Connecticut and Rhode Island were the only republican colonies at the time of the war.

Colonial Legislatures. In all of the colonies there were legislatures which ordinarily had control over the local affairs of the colony. This control was exercised either according to the terms of the charter or without any formal authority from England. The legislative assemblies consisted of two chambers, except in Pennsylvania, where there was but one chamber. The lower chamber was elected by the people, or rather by the minority of the people, to whom the privilege of voting had been given. The governor's council, originally an advisory body, had come to have legislative power and acted as an upper chamber in every state except Pennsylvania. Members of the governor's council were elected by the people, appointed by the king or proprietor, or chosen by the retiring legislature.

Origin of State Governments. - The war separated the colonies from England and made it necessary to make some changes in the form of government. As early as May 15, 1776, Congress suggested to the former colonies that they should organize as state governments, which most of them speedily did either by act of legislature or by a meeting called for that purpose. Most of the states found it desirable to adopt new constitutions, but Connecticut and Rhode Island, which had been practically independent republics, were content to govern themselves under the

terms of their colonial charters until well into the nineteenth century.1

Early State Constitutions. The new state constitutions were based upon the colonial charters. The governor was still the chief executive, but now was elected by the voters or by the state legislature. The upper house of the legislature became known as the senate and was made up of members elected either by the people or by the lower house. Each state claimed to be sovereign. The Articles of Confederation (1781-1788) left the states sovereign, but by the adoption of the present Constitution of the United States they gave up many of the rights of sovereignty.

Present State Constitutions. All the states, except Massachusetts, have adopted their present state constitutions since the Constitution of the United States went into effect. The new constitutions were modeled to a large extent upon the Constitution of the United States, and changes in that document have generally been followed by changes in the state constitutions.

There are three main divisions in the state constitutions: 1. A Bill of Rights, which consists of a statement of fundamental rights and privileges of inhabitants of the

I.

state

2. An outline of the government, in which provision is made for executive, legislative, and judicial departments.

3. Miscellaneous provisions in regard to the militia, corporations, public lands, taxation, education, and methods of amending the constitution. Many provisions are put in state constitutions which belong properly to leg1 Connecticut adopted a new constitution in 1818, Rhode Island in 1842.

islation, but which have been put in the constitution in order to make it difficult, if not impossible, to change them.

Written Constitutions. The first written constitution in America, if not in the world, was created in an assembly of the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, which was held in Hartford on January 14, 1639. This was a real constitution, as it clearly described the nature of the proposed government. The famous document was called the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." When Charles II granted a charter to Connecticut he merely gave recognition to the Fundamental Orders.

In the colonial charters we find the beginnings of written constitutions in America. Under them the people became accustomed to government according to the provisions of a written document. Oftentimes questions arose as to whether the colonial legislature had not gone beyond its authority. Such questions were settled before the courts of law, and a decision against the act of the legislature made the act null and void. The provisions of our state and national constitutions, following the suggestion of the colonial charters, give the courts authority to pass upon the constitutionality of legislative acts. In countries with unwritten constitutions there is no such control of legislative bodies.

The great advantage of written over unwritten constitutions is in the prevention of radical and hasty legislation, which is really a protection of the minority against the majority. But this does not make the courts superior to the people; no believer in popular government could desire such a thing. It is a check "in the way of the people's

whim, but not their will," No measure sincerely desired by the majority of the people can long be resisted. The legislative and executive bodies may change the policy of the court by creating additional judges, or the constitution may be amended, and thus the people's will may become effective.

Amendment of State Constitutions. Two methods of amending state constitutions exist. One method is to have the proposed amendment introduced in the state legislature, where it is obliged to receive a three-fifths or twothirds majority. Some states make its passage through the legislature even more difficult by requiring that it shall pass in two successive legislatures. After passing the legislature, the amendment must be submitted to the people for ratification or rejection.

The other method of amendment is by a convention. Usually state constitutions provide that a constitutional convention shall be called when two-thirds of the legislature demand it, though in some states the legislature is required at regular intervals to submit to the people the question of holding a convention. Members of the convention are chosen by the voters at a special election. The work of a constitutional convention is usually submitted to the people for ratification or rejection. Recently, constitutional conventions in some of the southern states have declared new constitutions in force without submitting them to the people, because they knew that the qualified voters under the old constitution would reject the new document.

James Russell Lowell, "Democracy and Other Addresses," p. 24. See also Tiedman's "Unwritten Constitution,” p. 164.