About This Collection
Four constitutional conventions have been held since the first convention wrote the Constitution of 1776. These succeeding conventions, convened in 1789, 1837, 1872 and 1967, were held in response to demands for sweeping changes to the existing constitution. Procedures for the convening of constitutional conventions have varied since they were established by the legislatures which issued the convention call. The 1776 and 1789 conventions were held without any prior approval by the general electorate. The 1776 Provincial Convention was held as a result of a calling by a conference of extra-legal Committees of Correspondence. The Constitution which it produced provided for an elected body known as the Council of Censors to serve as a check on the executive and legislative branches. The Council was to be elected every seven years, and was to convene for a period of one year. The Council was given the authority to censure public officials, order impeachments, recommend the repeal of legislation, and if necessary, call for a convention to amend the Constitution. This machinery for constitutional revision was ignored in 1789 when the General Assembly called for a constitutional convention. All provisions for the Council of Censors were omitted from the Constitution of 1790. This collection contains a record, arranged chronologically by date of entry, of each day of the convention giving the surnames of the delegates in the order in which they spoke, the briefest possible description of what they discussed or action they took, and committees to which the matter was then referred. The journal runs from January 22, 1873 to December 27, 1873.
