Constitution of the State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations as adopted by the Convention assembled at Providence, November, 1841
Providence: Knowles & Vose, printers, 1842. 8vo, pp. 27, [1]; self-wrappers; removed from binding; stitching partially perished and a small staple neatly applied in top gutter margin; modeate foxing to title page; all else very good. Known as the Landholders' Constitution, from the fact that only owners of real estate, and their eldest sons were allowed to vote for delegates to the Convention, adopted by the charter government in Providence. "Once again reformist agitation prompted the General Assembly to authorize a constitutional convention, this one scheduled for November 1841. The agitators correctly assumed that the Assembly's act was insincere and opportunistic, merely designed to sap vitality from the [Rhode Island Suffrage] association's cause and no more intended to be the vehicle of change than those previous "do-nothing" conventions summoned to appease the disfranchised in 1824 and 1834. As a result of this disbelief, members of the association decided upon an extralegal course to attain their ends. Drafting Dorr to lead them, they exhorted the adult male citizenry to disregard the landholding qualifications and go to the polls to elect delegates to a "People’s Convention," which would meet in October 1841. The elections were duly held late in August, and within six weeks the reformers' convention presented the fruit of its deliberations to the white male populous of Rhode Island for ratification" (Patrick T. Conley in his Introduction to The Broadsides of the Dorr Rebellion, compiled by Russell J. DeSimone and Daniel C. Schofield). Not that this mattered at the time to the charterist government who adopted this constitution to replace the Charter of 1663 from the time of King Charles II, but with little change in voting rights and requirements. Not found in American Imprints; Bartlett, p. 90; Sabin 70571. Item #55676
Price: $400.00
