Constitutional Convention of 1821 In 1821, the power struggle between Governor
DeWitt Clinton and the
Bucktails faction of the
Democratic-Republican Party led to the call for a Constitutional Convention by the Bucktail members of the legislature, against Clinton's fierce opposition. Their intention was to transfer powers from the executive to the legislative branch of the government. In November 1820, the legislature passed a bill which authorized the holding of a convention with unlimited powers. Governor Clinton cast the deciding vote in the
Council of Revision to veto the bill. The Bucktails did not have a two-thirds majority in the legislature to override the veto. During the regular session (beginning in January 1821), the Legislature passed a new bill that put the question to the people. At the state election in April 1821, the people voted in favor of the convention. The convention met from August to November in
Albany. U.S. Vice President
Daniel D. Tompkins presided. Between January 15 and 17, 1822, the new constitution, as amended by the convention, was put before the voters for ratification as a whole, and was accepted: for 74,732; against 41,402. There was deep division among New Yorkers over the merits of the amended constitution. Those who opposed it and who did not sign included: • Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins •
Ambrose Spencer, Chief Justice of New York •
James Kent. Chancellor of the
New York Court of Chancery •
William W. Van Ness, Justice of the New York Supreme Court •
Jacob R. Van Rensselaer •
Stephen Van Rensselaer •
James Tallmadge Jr. •
Jonas Platt •
Peter A. Jay Supporters who signed the new constitution included: •
Martin Van Buren, future Vice President and President •
Erastus Root •
Samuel Nelson •
Nathan Sanford •
Samuel Young •
Ogden Edwards Peter R. Livingston,
Alexander Sheldon,
Jacob Radcliff,
Peter Sharpe,
Rufus King, and
Nathaniel Pitcher were also among the delegates. The changes in this version of the constitution were: •
State elections were moved from the last week in April to the first week in November. Beginning in 1823, the terms of the governor (two-year term), lieutenant governor (two-year term), state senators (four-year term) and assemblymen (one-year term) coincided with the calendar year. • The
lieutenant governor was to succeed to the governor's office "for the residue of the term" whenever a vacancy occurred, unlike
John Tayler, who in 1817 became "Acting Governor" only until the election of a successor. • The
Council of Appointment was abolished and the vast majority of formerly appointive offices were made elective. State officeholders were elected by joint ballot of the
Assembly and
State Senate; others by local popular or legislative elections. • The
Council of Revision was abolished. Its power to veto new legislation was transferred to the governor, whose veto could be overcome by a two-thirds vote of the legislature. • The Governor's right to prorogue (dismiss) the legislature at will was abolished. • Property qualifications for white men to vote were removed. • Black men were granted the vote, but with a property qualification which effectively disfranchised nearly all of them. It was at this time that
Peter Augustus Jay, one of the delegates and also the son of
John Jay gave an impassioned speech at the Convention arguing that the right to vote should be extended to free African Americans. "Peter Augustus Jay, one of a minority of advocates of universal manhood suffrage, insisted that the idea that black people were naturally inferior had long been 'completely refuted and universally exploded.'" • A
Canal Board was to be formed by the Commissioners of the Canal Fund (the State Cabinet officers) and the Canal Commissioners • Eight
Circuit Courts were created, one in each senatorial district. Until then, the justices of the
New York State Supreme Court had held traveling
circuit court.
Constitutional Convention of 1846 The delegates convened at
Albany on June 1, 1846, and adjourned on October 9. The new Constitution was put before the voters at the next
state election in November and was adopted. Yes: 221,528 votes, No: 92,436 votes.
John Tracy presided.
Ira Harris,
George W. Patterson,
Ambrose L. Jordan,
Charles H. Ruggles,
David R. Floyd-Jones,
Charles O'Conor,
Samuel J. Tilden (future
New York Governor and
1876 presidential candidate who won popular vote but lost in electoral college to
Rutherford B. Hayes),
Levi S. Chatfield,
William B. Wright,
Michael Hoffman and
William C. Bouck were among the delegates. The changes in this version of the constitution were: • Provisions for tenants' rights were added, abolishing feudal tenures and outlawing leases lasting longer than twelve years (See
Article I, Sections 12 and 14). These constitutional changes took place in response to the
Anti-Rent War. • The
Court of Chancery and the
Court for the Correction of Errors were abolished. Jurisdiction on
equity was transferred to the
New York Supreme Court, jurisdiction on appeal to the
New York Court of Appeals. • The
New York State Circuit Courts were abolished, and replaced by the district benches of the
New York Supreme Court. • The
New York Court of Appeals was established in July 1847, consisting of four statewide elected judges and four justices chosen annually from the
New York Supreme Court. • The state cabinet officers (
Attorney General,
Secretary of State,
Comptroller,
Treasurer and
State Engineer) who had been chosen by joint ballot of the Legislature, were now elected by the voters at the state elections in odd years. The incumbents were legislated out of office on December 31, 1847. The successors were elected at the state election in November and took office on January 1, 1848. From 1848 on, the state officers served a two-year term, one year in the second half of the term of the incumbent Governor, the other year in the first half of the term of the succeeding Governor.
Constitutional Convention of 1867–1868 According to the Constitution of 1846, twenty years after its elaboration the electorate was asked if they wanted a constitutional convention to be held, which was answered in the affirmative at the
New York state election, 1866 with 352,854 votes for, and 256,364 against the convention. On April 23, 1867, the delegates were elected, and the convention had a small
Republican majority. The convention met in June at
Albany, New York, adjourned on September 23, met again on November 12, and adjourned again in February 1868. Afterwards the draft was discussed in the
New York State Legislature for another year and a half, the questions being if to vote for the whole Constitution or separately for some or all articles. In the end, the new Constitution was rejected by the voters at the
New York state election, 1869, with 223,935 votes for and 290,456 against it. The Republican Party advocated the adoption, the
Democrats the rejection of the new proposed Constitution of 1867-68, and by 1869 the Democrats had a majority in the State. Only the "Judicial Article" which re-organized the
New York Court of Appeals was adopted by a small majority, with 247,240 for and 240,442 against it.
William A. Wheeler presided.
Waldo Hutchins,
William M. Evarts,
George Opdyke,
Augustine J. H. Duganne,
George William Curtis,
Horace Greeley,
Ira Harris,
Martin I. Townsend,
Charles Andrews,
Tracy Beadle,
Charles J. Folger,
Erastus S. Prosser,
Augustus Frank,
Augustus Schell,
George Law,
Henry C. Murphy,
Homer A. Nelson,
David L. Seymour,
Jacob Hardenbergh,
Smith M. Weed,
Alonzo C. Paige,
Francis Kernan,
George F. Comstock,
John Magee,
Sanford E. Church,
Joseph G. Masten,
Marshall B. Champlain,
Selah B. Strong,
Erastus Brooks,
Teunis G. Bergen,
William D. Veeder,
John G. Schumaker,
Stephen J. Colahan,
Charles P. Daly,
Samuel B. Garvin,
Abraham R. Lawrence Jr.,
Elbridge T. Gerry,
Frederick W. Loew,
Gideon J. Tucker,
Samuel J. Tilden,
Edwards Pierrepont,
James Brooks,
John E. Develin,
William Hitchman,
Abraham B. Conger,
Abraham B. Tappen,
William H. Morris,
B. Platt Carpenter,
John Stanton Gould,
John M. Francis,
Adolphus F. Hitchcock,
Erastus Corning,
Amasa J. Parker,
Marius Schoonmaker,
Matthew Hale,
Edwin A. Merritt,
Leslie W. Russell,
James A. Bell,
Richard U. Sherman,
Theodore W. Dwight,
Benjamin N. Huntington,
Ezra Graves,
Elias Root,
M. Lindley Lee,
Thomas G. Alvord,
Frank Hiscock,
Horatio Ballard,
Elizur H. Prindle,
Samuel F. Miller,
Hobart Krum,
Charles E. Parker,
Milo Goodrich,
George O. Rathbun,
Elbridge G. Lapham,
David Rumsey,
Jerome Fuller,
Freeman Clarke,
Seth Wakeman,
Thomas T. Flagler,
Israel T. Hatch,
George W. Clinton,
Augustus F. Allen, and
Norman M. Allen were among the delegates. The changes in this version of the constitution were: • The
New York Court of Appeals was totally re-organized. Instead of eight Judges, four elected statewide and four selected from the
New York Supreme Court, it had now one
Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals and six Associate Judges, all elected statewide. • The
Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals was not elected statewide anymore. • The term of office of the Judges of the Court of Appeals and the Justices of the
New York Supreme Court was extended from 8 to 14 years, and the rotative renewal (every two years one Judge or Justice had been elected to an eight-year term; in case of a vacancy, a special election was held to fill the remainder of the term only) was abolished. Instead, vacancies were filled as they occurred (by death, resignation, or term expiration), always to a full 14-year term.
Constitutional Commission of 1872–1873 After the rejection of all amendments proposed by the Convention of 1867–68, except the judicial article,
Governor John T. Hoffman suggested to the Legislature that a non-partisan Constitutional Commission of 32 members should be formed. The Commission had four members from each senatorial district, appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the State Senate, equally divided between the two major political parties. The Commission met from December 4, 1872, to March 15, 1873. They proposed amendments to the Constitution of 1846, which was still in force with amendments which were then approved or rejected by the Legislature, and those approved were then submitted to the voters for ratification. Among the members were:
Robert H. Pruyn who presided;
George Opdyke,
Augustus Schell,
John D. Van Buren,
Erastus Brooks,
Benjamin D. Silliman,
George C. Burdett,
Francis Kernan,
Elias W. Leavenworth,
Daniel Pratt,
John F. Hubbard Jr.,
Barna R. Johnson,
Lucius Robinson,
George B. Bradley,
Van Rensselaer Richmond,
Lysander Farrar,
Lorenzo Morris and
Sherman S. Rogers. Major changes: • The terms of the Governor and lieutenant Governor was increased from two to three years. • The statewide elective offices of three
Inspectors of State Prisons and three
Canal Commissioners were abolished, and were succeeded by a Superintendent of State Prisons and a
Superintendent of Public Works, appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the State Senate.
Constitutional Convention of 1894 On January 27, 1893, the Legislature passed "An Act to amend chapter 398, of the Laws of 1892, entitled 'An Act to provide for a convention to revise and amend the Constitution'", calling a Constitutional Convention to meet in 1894. The 175 delegates were elected at the
New York state election, 1893, five in each senatorial district, and 15 at-large. The Convention met on May 8, 1894, at the
New York State Capitol in Albany; and adjourned on September 29. The revised Constitution was submitted for ratification at the
New York state election, 1894, in three parts: the new legislative apportionment; the proposed canal improvements; and 31 miscellaneous amendments to the Constitution; which were all adopted by the voters. Among the delegates were:
Joseph H. Choate, President;
Thomas G. Alvord, First Vice President;
William H. Steele, Second Vice President;
Elihu Root;
Edward Lauterbach;
Jesse Johnson;
Frederick William Holls;
Michael H. Hirschberg;
John T. McDonough;
John M. Francis;
Commodore P. Vedder;
John I. Gilbert;
Augustus Frank;
Daniel H. McMillan;
Frederic Storm;
John G. Schumaker;
John B. Meyenborg;
Almet F. Jenks;
Charles B. Morton;
William D. Veeder;
John Cooney;
Thomas W. Fitzgerald;
Wright Holcomb,
De Lancey Nicoll;
John Bigelow;
Frank T. Fitzgerald;
Leonard A. Giegerich;
Joseph Koch;
Gideon J. Tucker;
M. Warley Platzek;
Jacob Marks;
Andrew H. Green;
Joseph I. Green;
Stephen S. Blake;
William Church Osborn;
Willard H. Mase;
Roswell A. Parmenter;
A. Bleecker Banks;
Abram B. Steele;
Chester B. McLaughlin;
Elon R. Brown;
Henry J. Cookinham;
John C. Davies;
Louis Marshall;
Milo M. Acker;
Merton E. Lewis;
I. Sam Johnson;
Henry W. Hill;
George Allen Davis; and
Charles J. Kurth. Major changes: • The term of the governor and lieutenant governor was shortened from three to two years. • The election of state officers (Secretary of State, Comptroller, Attorney General; Treasurer; State Engineer) and state senators was moved from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, henceforth coinciding with the gubernatorial election. • The number of state senators was increased from 32 to 50; and the number of assemblymen from 128 to 150. Legislative voting districts were allocated among counties based on citizen population, not total population, so as to exclude the flow of immigrants through Ellis Island. A complex allocation formula was used to ensure that upstate areas would receive senate and assembly districts far in excess of their share of the overall population. Before the Supreme Court's influential
one person, one vote decisions of the 1960s, the Republican Party would control the state assembly for sixty-six years and the state senate for fifty-seven. • The
State Forest Preserve was given perpetual protection as wild land. • The State-owned
Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation was allowed to be sold. •
Convict labor in
penal institutions was abolished. • The use of
voting machines was allowed. • The first meeting of the annual legislative session was moved from the first Tuesday to the first Wednesday in January.
Constitutional Convention of 1915 Under the 1894 Constitution, the people were to vote on the holding of a seventh Constitutional Convention in 1916. However, the Governor proposed that the Convention be moved up to 1915 so that it would not be overshadowed by other issues. Thus, in April 1914, a referendum approved a Constitutional Convention to be held in 1915. There were 168 delegates to the 1915 Convention. The delegates included:
Elihu Root (the President of the Convention),
Edgar T. Brackett,
Jacob Brenner,
Alphonso T. Clearwater,
Patrick W. Cullinan,
Seth Low,
Louis Marshall,
John Lord O'Brian,
Herbert Parsons,
Adolph J. Rodenbeck,
Jacob Gould Schurman,
Henry L. Stimson,
George W. Wickersham,
Franklin A. Coles,
Harry E. Lewis,
Meier Steinbrink,
Harry Heyman,
John F. Ahearn,
Abraham Harawitz,
Alfred E. Smith,
Harry E. Oxford,
Morgan J. O'Brien,
John B. Stanchfield,
James A. Foley,
De Lancey Nicoll,
William F. Sheehan,
Thomas Francis Smith,
Thomas Maurice Mulry,
John Thomas Dooling,
John Godfrey Saxe II,
Robert F. Wagner,
Courtlandt Nicoll,
Frederick C. Tanner,
Mark Eisner,
William M. K. Olcott,
Martin Saxe,
J. Sidney Bernstein,
Nathan Burkan,
Anthony J. Griffin,
Louis F. Haffen,
Francis W. Martin,
George A. Blauvelt,
Eugene Lamb Richards,
Francis A. Winslow,
Frank L. Young,
Caleb H. Baumes,
Lemuel E. Quigg,
William Barnes Jr.,
Harold J. Hinman,
Victor M. Allen,
W. Barlow Dunlap,
Louis M. Martin,
Ray B. Smith,
Israel T. Deyo,
George E. Green,
Jesse S. Phillips,
James Wolcott Wadsworth,
Frank M. Jones,
Benjamin Rush Rhees,
Homer E. A. Dick,
Charles B. Sears,
Matthias Endres,
Frank W. Standart, and
James S. Whipple. Proposed changes included: • A reorganization of state government leaving it with 17 departments, reducing the number of elected officials, and providing for the appointment of others • Removing from the State Legislature the power to review local matters and private claims • Budgetary regulation • Improvements in the ways the State could become indebted • Home rule for cities • Giving the State Legislature the authority, with voters' consent, to alter county government • Simplification of the court system • State control over tax assessment • Establishing a conservation commission to oversee natural resources • Expanded rights for workers All of the proposals from the seventh Constitutional Convention of 1915 were grouped into five questions, all of which were rejected by the people. However, all was not lost. In 1925, a revised Article 5, containing many proposals from the Fifth Convention of 1915, was submitted to the people/voters and accepted in a referendum/election. In 1927, the budget proposal from the Fifth Convention was also accepted.
1921 Judiciary Convention Originally, the 1915 Convention proposed numerous overhauls to the judicial system. The Legislature rejected this article and it was not sent to the voters. However, in 1921, the Legislature authorized a group of thirty people to revise the judiciary article of the 1894 Constitution. However, the proposed article included many proposals from the 1915 Convention, and was again rejected by the Legislature.
Constitutional Convention of 1938 The Constitution established in 1894 required the voters to vote on the necessity of a subsequent constitutional convention in 1936. On November 3, 1936, the voters approved the holding of a Convention which was held two years later in 1938. There were 168 delegates to the Eighth Constitutional Convention of 1938. These included
Alfred E. Smith (former Governor and presidential candidate),
Hamilton Fish III (U.S. Representative),
Robert F. Wagner, (U.S. senator), and
Robert Moses (major builder as head of the
Triborough Bridge Authority). The Convention was chaired by
Frederick E. Crane, the Chief Judge of the State Court of Appeals. Governor
Herbert Lehman appointed
Charles Poletti to head a committee to gather information for the convention's use. The twelve-volume report they produced is called the "Poletti Report". The 1938 Convention did not actually adopt a new Constitution, but it did propose changes (57 amendments in all) to the continuing Constitution of 1894, which were bundled into nine questions for the voters; only six questions of amendments were approved. Changes approved were: • The State Legislature was now authorized to enact a Social Security program • The State Legislature could provide funding to eliminate railroad crossings • New York City was excluded from debt limits in order to finance a public rapid transport system • An amendment setting out the rights of public works projects workers • A number of non-controversial amendments • Permission for the State Legislature to fund transportation to parochial schools
Constitutional Convention of 1967 In the 1960s, with the increasing changes and expansions of populations with the changing society, demand grew for a new Constitution. Thus, in 1965, the State Legislature put the question to the voters on the holding of a constitutional convention in 1967, and the voters approved it. A committee was established to gather information for the Convention. In 1966, 186 people were elected to become members in the 9th Constitutional Convention. Unlike all of the other Conventions, the candidates for membership ran in partisan elections of which the
Democrats won a majority. The Convention was chaired by
Anthony Travia, the Speaker of the State Assembly. Proposed changes included: • Expansion of individual citizens' rights • Repealing of the 19th Century
Blaine Amendment, which prohibited the State from funding parochial schools • State takeover of costs for the court system, and the administration of welfare programs • Allowing the legislature to incur debt without referendum • The addition of a "statute of restrictions," or "two-part constitution," whereby a short Constitution would be enacted, with other provisions being placed in a separate document that differed from normal statute, as it took two years to amend The proposed changes were bundled into one document and were met with stiff opposition. Thus, in November 1967, the voters rejected the new Constitution, with no county voting in favor.
2001 change The language of the Constitution became gender-neutral in 2001.
2024 November amendment In November 2024, a referendum was approved that modified section 11 of article 1 of the Constitution this way (removals struck, additions underlined): ==Amending the Constitution==