State government.
On May 10, 1776, the
Congress resolved “that it be recommended to the respective assemblies and conventions of the United Colonies, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs hath been hitherto established, to adopt such government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular and
America in general.”
This resolution was offered by
John Adams, and he,
Edward Rutledge, and
Richard H. Lee were appointed a committee to draft a preamble to it. It was reported and adopted on the 15th.
In that preamble it was asserted that “all oaths for the support of government under the crown of
Great Britain were irreconcilable with reason and good conscience; and that the exercise of every kind of authority under that crown ought to be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted, under authority from the people of the colonies, for the maintenance of internal peace and the defence of their lives, liberties, and properties against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations of their enemies.”
This was the first act of Congress in favor of absolute independence of
Great Britain.
The recommendation was generally followed, but not without opposition.
New Hampshire had prepared a temporary State government in January, 1776.
The royal charters of
Rhode Island and
Connecticut were considered sufficient for independent local self-government.
New Jersey adopted a State constitution July 2, 1776;
Virginia, July 5;
Pennsylvania, July 15;
Maryland, Aug. 14;
Delaware, Sept. 20;
North Carolina, Dec. 18:
Georgia, Feb. 5, 1777; New York, April 20;
South Carolina, March 19, 1778; and
Massachusetts, March 2, 1780.
For all practical purposes—even to the extent of alterations of the constitutions, except in a few States where different provisions were made—the supreme power was vested in the respective legislatures, which, excepting
Pennsylvania and
Georgia, consisted of two branches.
The more numerous branch retained the name it had borne in colonial times.
In
Massachusetts and other States it was the House of Representatives; in
Virginia, the
House of Burgesses; in
North Carolina, the House of Commons; in other
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States, the
House of Assembly.
In some of the States the colonial title of council was given to the other House.
Virginia called it the Senate, an appellation afterwards adopted by other States.
This branch of government was to fill the place of the former Colonial Council.
All the States excepting
Georgia established or contained some supreme tribunal authorized to review and correct the decisions of inferior courts.
In
Georgia the several county courts had final jurisdiction.
In New York the Senate constituted the Supreme Court of Errors, assisted by the chancellor and the judges.
In
New Jersey the governor and council constituted the court of appeals.
In
Virginia a court of appeals was composed of the admiralty and chancery judges, and the judges of the General Court.
In
Maryland and
South Carolina the presiding judges of the district courts composed a court of appeals, but did not extend to chancery cases.
The Supreme Court of
North Carolina fulfilled the same functions, as did courts with the same, or nearly the same, titles in
Connecticut,
Rhode Island,
Massachusetts,
New Hampshire,
Pennsylvania, and
Delaware.
