Maryland Constitution of 1776

thumb|200px|[[Thomas Johnson (jurist)|Thomas Johnson, who was a delegate to the Maryland Constitutional Convention of 1776 and was later elected as the first Governor of Maryland under the 1776 constitution.]]

The Maryland Constitution of 1776 was the first of four constitutions under which the U.S. state of Maryland has been governed. It was that state's basic law from its adoption in 1776 until the Maryland Constitution of 1851 took effect on July 4 of that year.

Background and drafting

In the months before the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, a group of powerful Marylanders formed an association that eventually took the form of a convention in Annapolis. This group made preparations to form a new government for Maryland and sent representatives to participate in the Continental Congress.

The eighth session decided that the continuation of an ad hoc government by the convention was not a good mechanism for governing the state and that a more permanent and structured government was needed. So, on July 3, 1776, they resolved that a new convention be elected that would be responsible for drawing up their first state constitution, one that did not refer to parliament or the king, but would be a government "...of the people only." This being said, the elite men that had power in the original colonial government did not want to lose this power under a new constitution. They wanted to democratize the government as little as possible in order to stay in power but also to stop any sort of uprising from gaining traction. The committee of men creating the constitution were very wealthy and notable in their society including Charles Carroll of Carrollton and William Paca.

thumb|[[Charles Carroll of Carrollton|Charles Carroll of Carrolton, who helped create the Maryland Constitution. ]]

On August 1, all freemen with property elected delegates for the Maryland Constitutional Convention of 1776. They began meeting on August 14, drafted the constitution, and adjourned on November 11. The document was not submitted to the people for ratification. The Assembly of Freemen would not meet again, as it was replaced by the new state government established by the 1776 constitution. Thomas Johnson became the state's first elected governor. The Declaration of Rights also separated the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.

Creation of government

Before the 1776 constitution, Maryland had a very simple form of government without separate branches for legislative, executive, and judicial power. The 1776 constitution defined the Maryland General Assembly, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Maryland House of Delegates and Maryland State Senate. It acknowledged the power of county governments in administering their own affairs, and called for separate treasurers and land registrars on Maryland's Eastern and Western Shores. The constitution stipulated that new amendments could be passed by two consecutive sessions of the house of delegates. Continuing the trend of giving more power to the people, Maryland followed the other states in allowing the legislative branch to have more authority than was previously delegated.

Elite Fight for Control

While there was work done to make the state government more republican, Maryland elites were also desperate to keep control in this time of revolution. They did this through the Maryland Senate that would act as a check on the lower Maryland House of Delegates. There were higher property requirements needed to run for the Senate and therefore it would be filled with the gentry rather than average citizens. These property requirements made it very difficult for the vast majority of people to be included in the government. To run for the House of Delegates, it was required to own £500 of property. To run for the Senate, the property requirement to run was £1000. The Governor was required to have £5000 of property. This allowed for only the wealthiest 10 percent of men to hold office of any kind. This ensured that while the government was significantly more democratic, the most elite members of society were still the ones in charge.

The wealthy also controlled who held power in Maryland by having property requirements for voting. In order to vote for representatives in the House, the person must have 50 acres of land or £30 of property. For the Senate, 2 electors from the House were chosen from each county and they must have £500 worth of property. The governor was elected by the Senate and the House. The only positions up for election by citizens not in positions of power was their delegate in the House of Delegates and their local sheriff.

Elections and the franchise

Most of the people living in Maryland at this time were disenfranchised. Despite the declaration that all power emanates from the people, the document kept political power in the hands of the male citizens who met a minimum property requirement. When adopted, the 1776 constitution allowed 20,000 of the 300,000+ people living in Maryland to vote.

Slaves and women could not vote, nor did they have equal rights to men. Women were not allowed to vote as they were considered dependent on their husbands or their fathers. Enslaved people were also considered dependents and not citizens so therefore they were disenfranchised. Free black men who met the property qualifications were technically eligible to vote. However, the property requirements for voting were so high that it was very unlikely for free black men to reach this status in Maryland at this time. The constitution extended voting rights to include Catholics but did not include any non-Christians. Only about 55 percent of white men were allowed to vote under the new constitution mainly because of property requirement restrictions. White freemen had to have £30 of property in order to vote which excluded much of the poorer population such as tenant farmers.

References

Bibliography

Russo, Jean. Maryland Humanities Council (2001). "From Revolution to Revolution: Eighteenth-Century Maryland".
Ridgway, Whitman H. Maryland Humanities Council (2001). "(Maryland) Politics and Law"
Smith, Herbert C., and John T. Willis. Maryland Politics and Government: Democratic Dominance. University of Nebraska Press, 2012.

External links

Text of the Constitution
Amendments to the Maryland Constitution of 1776
The Archives of Maryland - Constitutional Records