HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 89

CELEBRATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE.

WHEREAS, at the general election of 1894 the people of Delaware overwhelmingly supported, by a vote of 22,842 to 2,364, the call for a state Constitutional Convention to amend the Constitution of the State of Delaware of 1831, Delaware’s third and, at the time, longest existing constitution; and

WHEREAS, the General Assembly issued the call for a Convention to be held in December 1896, with elections taking place at the next general election in November 1896 to elect 10 delegates to the Convention from each county; and

WHEREAS, the Convention convened for the first time on December 1, 1896, and, after a dispute as to the election results in Kent County, 16 Democrats and 14 Republicans were seated as delegates to the Convention, with the delegates including businessmen, farmers, doctors, clergy, and lawyers; and

WHEREAS, the Convention elected John H. Biggs, then Attorney General, to serve as the President of the Convention and Charles R. Jones to serve as Secretary; and

WHEREAS, the Convention established the following 10 standing committees, composed of equal representation by party and county, with some chaired by Republican delegates, to study and make reports to the Convention on ideas to be included in the new constitution: Legislature; Governor and Executive Orders; Judiciary; Elections; Securing Purity of the Ballot; Corporations; Crimes, Punishment, and Impeachment; Agriculture; Alterations and Amendments of the Constitution and Calling of Constitutional Conventions; and Accounts; and

WHEREAS, the substantive work of the Convention began on January 4, 1897, and continued for 5 months until the completion of the new Constitution on June 4, 1897, and its effectiveness on June 10, 1897; and

WHEREAS, the new Constitution began with a preamble, which recognized that all authority flows from the people; followed next by the first of 17 articles establishing a Bill of Rights containing 19 sections of basic substantive and procedural rights of the people, reserving these rights out of the general powers of the government; and continued through the next 16 articles establishing powers and responsibilities of the 3 separate, co-equal branches of our state government; and

WHEREAS, William C. Spruance, one of the drafters of this Constitution stated, “We are not making a Constitution for today or for tomorrow. We are making it for all time. This may last probably for a generation, and it may be the last Constitution for two generations. We do not know in the upheaval of time how things may go.”; and

WHEREAS, this Constitution has stood the test of time not by remaining the same, but by continuing to evolve over time through the enactment of over 90 amendments by succeeding General Assemblies aimed at securing additional rights for all Delawareans and refining the powers and responsibilities of state government.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 151st General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Senate concurring therein, that Friday, June 10, 2022, is celebrated as the 125th anniversary of the Constitution of the State of Delaware and all Delawareans are encouraged to join the General Assembly in reflecting on the rights secured and government formed by this important document.

SYNOPSIS

This Concurrent Resolution celebrates the 125th Anniversary of the Constitution of the State of Delaware.