CONSTITUTION
OF DELAWARE SEPTEMBER
21, 1776 (1) The
Constitution, or System of Government, agreed to and resolved upon by the
Representatives in full Convention of the Delaware State, formerly styled
"The Government of the Counties of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon
Delaware," the said Representatives being chosen by the Freemen of the
said State for that express Purpose. I The
government of the counties of New- Castle, Kent and Sussex, upon Delaware,
shall hereafter in all public and other writings be called The Delaware State. II The
Legislature shall be formed of two distinct branches; they shall meet once or
oftener in every year, and shall be called, " The General Assembly of
Delaware." III One of
the branches of- the Legislature shall be called, " The House of
Assembly," and shall consist of seven Representatives to be chosen for
each county annually of such persons as are freeholders of the same. IV The
other branch shall be called " The council," and consist of nine
members; three to be chosen for each county at the time of the first election
of the assembly, who shall be freeholders of the county for which they are
chosen, and be upwards of twenty-five years of age. At the end of one year
after the general election, the councillor who had the smallest number of votes
in each county shall be displaced, and the vacancies thereby occasioned
supplied by the freemen of each county choosing the same or another person at a
new election in manner aforesaid. At the end of two years after the first general
election, the councillor who stood second in number of votes in each county
shall be displaced, and the vacancies thereby occasioned supplied by a new
election in manner aforesaid. And at the end of three years from the first
general election, the councillor who had the greatest number of votes in each
county shall be displaced, and the vacancies thereby occasioned supplied by a
new election in manner aforesaid. And this rotation of a councillor being
displaced at the end of three years in each county, and his office supplied by
a new choice, shall be continued afterwards in due order annually forever,
whereby, after the first general election, a councillor will remain in trust
for three years from the time of his being elected, and a councillor will be
displaced, and the same or another chosen in each county at every election. V The
right of suffrage in the election of members for both houses shall remain as
exercised by law at present; and each house shall choose its own speaker,
appoint its own officers, judge of the qualifications and elections of its own
members, settle its own rules of proceedings, and direct writs of election for
supplying intermediate vacancies. They may also severally expel any of their
own members for misbehavior, but not a second time in the same sessions for the
same offence, if reelected; and they shall have all other powers necessary for
the legislature of a free and independent State. VI All
money-bills for the support of government shall originate in the house of assembly,
and may be altered, amended, or rejected by the legislative council. All other
bills and ordinances may take rise in the house of assembly or legislative
council, and may be altered, amended, or rejected by either. VII A
president or chief magistrate shall be chosen by joint ballot of both houses'
to be taken in the house of assembly, and the box examined by the speakers of
each house in the presence of the other members, and in case the numbers for
the two highest in votes should be equal, then the speaker of the council shall
have an additional casting voice, and the appointment of the person who has the
majority of votes shall be entered at large on the minutes and journals of each
house, and a copy thereof on parchment, certified and signed by the speakers
respectively, and sealed with the great seal of the State, which they are
hereby authorized to affix, shall be delivered to the person so chosen
president, who shall continue in that office three years, and until the sitting
of the next general assembly and no longer, nor be eligible until the
expiration of three years after he shall have been out of that office. An
adequate but moderate salary shall be settled on him during his continuance in
office. He may draw for such sums of money as shall be appropriated by the
general assembly, and be accountable to them for the same; he may, by and with
the advice of the privy council, lay embargoes or prohibit the exportation of
any commodity for any time not exceeding thirty days in the recess of the general
assembly; he shall have the power of granting pardons or reprieves, except
where the prosecution shall be carried on by the house of assembly, or the law
shall otherwise direct, in which cases no pardon or reprieve shall be granted,
but by a resolve of the house of assembly, and may exercise all the other
executive powers of government' limited and restrained as by this constitution
is mentioned, and according to the laws of the State. And on his death,
inability, or absence from the State, the speaker of the legislative council
for the time being shall be vice-president, and in case of his death,
inability, or absence from the State, the speaker of the house of assembly
shall have the powers of a president, until a new nomination is made by the
general assembly. VIII A
privy council, consisting of four members, shall be chosen by ballot, two by
the legislative council and two by the house of assembly: Provided, That no regular officer of the army or navy in the
service and pay of the continent, or of this, or of any other State, shall be
eligible; and a member of the legislative council or of the house of assembly
being chosen of the privy council, and accepting thereof, shall thereby lose
his seat. Three members shall be a quorum, and their advice and proceedings
shall be entered of record, and signed by the members present, (to any part of
which any member may enter his dissent,) to be laid before the general assembly
when called for by them. Two members shall be removed by ballot, one by the
legislative council and one by the house of assembly, at the end of two years,
and those who remain the next year after, who shall severally be ineligible for
the three next years. The vacancies, as well as those occasioned by death or
incapacity, shall be supplied by new elections in the same manner; and this
rotation of a privy councillor shall be continued afterwards in due order
annually forever. The president may by summons convene the privy council at any
time when the public exigencies may require, and at such place as he shall
think most convenient, when and where they are to attend accordingly. IX The
president, with the advice and consent of the privy council, may embody the
militia, and act as captain-general and commander-in-chief of them, and the other
military force of this State, under the laws of the same. X Either
house of the General assembly may adjourn themselves respectively. The
president shall not prorogue, adjourn, or dissolve the general assembly, but he
may, with the advice of the privy council, or on the application of a majority
of either house, call them before the time they shall stand adjourned; and the
two houses shall always sit at the same time and place, for which purpose
immediately after every adjournment the speaker of the house of assembly shall
give notice to the speaker of the other house of the time to which the house of
assembly stands adjourned. XI The
Delegates for Delaware to the Congress of the United States of America shall be
chosen annually, or superseded in the mean time, by joint ballot of both houses
in the general assembly. XII The
president and general assembly shall by joint ballot appoint three justices of
the supreme court for the State, one of whom shall be chief justice, and a
judge of admiralty, and also four justices of the courts of common pleas and
orphans' courts for each county, one of whom in each court shall be styled "chief justice", (and in case
of division on the Ballot the president shall have an additional casting
voice,) to be commissioned by the president under the great seal, who shall
continue in office during good behavior; and during the time the justices of
the said supreme court and courts of common pleas remain in office, they shall
hold none other except in the militia. Any one of the justices of either of
said courts shall have power, in case of the noncoming of his brethren, to open
and adjourn the court. An adequate fixed but moderate salary shall be settled
on them during their continuance in office. The president and privy council
shall appoint the secretary, the attorney-general, registers for the probate of
wills and granting letters of administration, registers in chancery, clerks of
the courts of common pleas and orphans' courts, and clerks of the peace, who
shall be commissioned as aforesaid, and remain in office during five years, if
they behave themselves well; during which time the said registers in chancery
and clerks shall not be justices of either of the said courts of which they are
officers, but they shall have authority to sign all writs by them issued, and
take recognizances of bail. The justices of the peace shall be nominated by the
house of assembly; that is to say, they shall name twenty-four persons for each
county, of whom the president, with the approbation of the privy council, shall
appoint twelve, who shall be commissioned as aforesaid, and continue in office
during seven years, if they behave themselves well; and in case of vacancies,
or if the legislature shall think proper to increase the number, they shall be
nominated and appointed in like manner. The members of the legislative and
privy councils shall be justices of the peace for the whole State, during their
continuance in trust; and the justices of the courts of common pleas shall be
conservators of the peace in their respective counties. XIII The
justices of the courts of common pleas and orphans courts shall have the power
of holding inferior courts of chancery, as heretofore, unless the legislature
shall otherwise direct. XIV The
clerks of the supreme court shall be appointed by the chief justice thereof,
and the recorders of deeds, by the justices of the courts of common pleas for
each county severally, and commissioned by the president, under the great seal,
and continue in office five years, if they behave themselves well. XV The
sheriffs and coroners of the respective counties shall be chosen annually, as
heretofore; and any person, having served three years as sheriff, shall be
ineligible for three years after; and the president and privy council shall
have the appointment of such of the two candidates, returned for said offices
of sheriff and coroner, as they shall think best qualified, in the same manner
that the governor heretofore enjoyed this power. XVI The
general assembly, by joint ballots shall appoint the generals and
field-officers, and all other officers in the army or navy of this State; and
the president may appoint, during pleasure, until otherwise directed by the
legislature, all necessary civil officers not hereinbefore mentioned. XVII There
shall be an appeal from the supreme court of Delaware, in matters of law and
equity, to a court of seven persons, to consist of the president for the time
being, who shall preside therein, and six others, to be appointed, three by the
legislative council, and three by the house of assembly, who shall continue in
office during good behavior, and be commissioned by the president, under the
great seal; which court shall be styled the " court of appeals," and
have all the authority and powers heretofore given by law in the last resort to
the King in council, under the old government. The secretary shall be the clerk
of this court; and vacancies therein occasioned by death or incapacity, shall
be supplied by new elections, in manner . aforesaid. XVIII The
justices of the supreme court and courts of common pleas, the members of the
privy council, the secretary, the trustees of the loan office, and clerks of
the court of common pleas, during their continuance in office, and all persons
concerned in any army or navy contracts, shall be ineligible to either house of
assembly; and any member of either house accepting of any other of the offices
herein before mentioned (excepting the office of a justice of the peace) shall
have his seat thereby vacated, and a new election shall be ordered. XIX The
legislative council and assembly shall have the power of making the great seal
of this State, which shall be kept by the president, or, in his absence, by the
vice-president, to be used by them as occasion may require. It shall be called "The Great Seal of the Delaware
State," and shall be affixed to all laws and commissions. XX
Commissions shall run in the name of " The Delaware State," and bear
test by the president Writs shall run in the same manner, and bear test in the
name of the chief-justice, or justice first named in the commissions for the
several courts, and be sealed with the public seals of such courts. Indictments
shall conclude, "Against the peace
and dignity of the State." XXI In
case of vacancy of the offices above directed to be filled by the president and
general assembly, the president and privy council may appoint others in their
stead until there shall be a new election. XXII Every
person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office
or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of
his office, shall take the following oath, or affirmation, if conscientiously
scrupulous of taking an oath, to wit: " I, A
B. will bear true allegiance to the Delaware State, submit to its constitution
and laws, and do no act wittingly whereby the freedom thereof may be
prejudiced." And also
make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: " I, A
B. do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in
the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy
scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine
inspiration." And all
officers shall also take an oath of office. XXIII The
president, when he is out of office, and within eighteen months after, and all
others offending against the State, either by maladministration, corruption, or
other means, by which the safety of the Commonwealth may be endangered, within
eighteen months after the offence committed, shall be impeachable by the house
of assembly before the legislative council; such impeachment to be prosecuted
by the attorney-general, or such other person or persons as the house of
assembly may appoint, according to the laws of the land. If found guilty, he or
they shall be either forever disabled to hold any office under government, or
removed from office pro tempore, or
subjected to such pains and penalties as the laws shall direct. And all
officers shall be removed on conviction of misbehavior at common law, or on
impeachment, or upon the address of the general assembly. XXIV All
acts of assembly in force in this State on the 15th day of May last (and not
hereby altered, or contrary to the resolutions of Congress or of the late house
of assembly of this State) shall so continue, until altered or repealed by the
legislature of this State, unless where they are temporary, in which case they
shall expire at the times respectively limited for their duration. XXV The
common law of England, as-well as so much of the statute law as has been
heretofore adopted in practice in this State, shall remain in force, unless
they shall be altered by a future law of the legislature; such parts only
excepted as are repugnant to the rights and privileges contained in this
constitution, and the declaration of rights, &c., agreed to by this
convention. XXVI No
person hereafter imported into this State from Africa ought to be held in
slavery under any presence whatever; and no negro, Indian, or mulatto slave
ought to be brought into this State, for sale, from any part of the world. XXVII The
first election for the general assembly of this State shall be held on the List
day of October next, at the court-houses in the several counties, in the manner
heretofore used in the election of the assembly, except as to the choice of
inspectors and assessors, where assessors have not been chosen on the 16th day
of September, instant, which shall be made on the morning of the day of
election, by the electors, inhabitants of the respective hundreds in each
county. At which time the sheriffs and coroners, for the said counties
respectively, are to be elected; and the present sheriffs of the counties of
Newcastle and Kent may be rechosen to that office until the 1st day of October,
A. D. 1779; and the present sheriff for the county of Sussex may be rechosen to
that office until the 1st day of October, A. D. 1778, provided the freemen
think proper to reelect them at every general election; and the present
sheriffs and coroners, respectively, shall continue to exercise their offices
as heretofore, until the sheriffs and coroners, to be elected on the said 21st
day of October, shall be commissioned and sworn into office. The members of the
legislative council and assembly shall meet, for transacting the business of
the State, on the 28th day of October next, and continue in office until the
1st day of October, which will be in the year 1777; on which day, and on the
1st day of October in each year forever after, the legislative council,
assembly, sheriffs, and coroners shall be chosen by ballot, in manner directed
by the several laws of this State, for regulating elections of members of
assembly and sheriffs and coroners; and the general assembly shall meet on the
20th day of the same month for the transacting the business of the State; and
if any of the said 1st and 20th days of October should be Sunday, then, and in
such case, the elections shall be held, and the general assembly meet, the next
day following. XXVIII To
prevent any violence or force being used at the said elections, no person shall
come armed to any of them, and no muster of the militia shall be made on that
day; nor shall any battalion or company give in their votes immediately
succeeding each other, if any other voter, who offers to vote, objects thereto;
nor shall any battalion or company, in the pay of the continent, or of this or
any other State, be suffered to remain at the time and place of holding the
said elections, nor within one mile of the said places respectively, for
twenty-four hours before the opening said elections, nor within twenty-four
hours after the same are closed, so as in any manner to impede the freely and
conveniently carying on the said election: Provided
always, That every elector may, in a peaceable and orderly manner, give in
his vote on the said day of election. XXIX There
shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference
to another; and no clergyman or preacher of the gospel, of any denomination,
shall be capable of holding any civil once in this State, or of being a member
of either of the branches of the legislature, while they continue in the
exercise of the pastorial function. XXX No
article of the declaration of rights and fundamental rules of this State,
agreed to by this convention, nor the first, second, fifth, (except that part
thereof that relates to the right of sufferage,) twenty-sixth, and twenty-ninth
articles of this constitution, ought ever to be violated on any presence
whatever. No other part of this constitution shall be altered, changed, or
diminished without the consent of five parts in seven of the assembly, and
seven members of the legislative council. George Read,
President. Attest: James Booth,
Secretary. - Friday, September 10,1776. (1) Verified
from " The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America,
Published by order of Congress, Boston: Printed by Norman and Bowen,
1785." This
constitution was framed by a Convention which assembled at New Castle, August
27, 1776, in accordance with the recommendation of the Continental Congress
that the people of the Colonies should form independent State Governments. It
was not submitted to the people but was proclaimed September 21, 1776. FONTE: |
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