Pennsylvania

One of the thirteen It received its name from a royal charter granted March 4, 1681, by Charles II. to William Penn. By that charter, Penn was constituted the proprietary and governor of the province, and vested with power to enact laws, with the consent of the freemen, to execute the laws, to appoint judges and other officers, Incorporate towns, establish ports, levy customs. Import and export goods, sell lands creating a tenure, levy troops, make war, and exercise other attributes of sovereign power. Appeals In Judicial matters lay to the crown, and all laws could be annulled by the crown within five years after their passage. The first frame of government was adopted and promulgated on April 26, 1682. The government was to be by the governor and freemen in a provincial council and general assembly. Both of the latter were chosen annually by the people. All laws were to originate with the council. A governor, judges, and other officers were to be appointed, during good behavior, by the governor from a double list, presented by the council or assembly. On April 2, 1683. a new frame was adopted, reducing the numbers both of the council and assembly. In 1693 the proprietary was deprived of his government and the province placed under the government of New York. But in 1691 Penn was duly reinstated. A new frame of government adopted on October 26, 1696, matfe some material alterations in the existing order of things. The power of originating laws was thereby first conferred on the assembly. The charter of privileges granted by the proprietary and accepted by the assembly on -October 28, 1701, confirming the foregoing provisions and making numerous others, continued the supreme law of the province during the residue of the proprietary government. In 1776, after thd declaration of American independence, a constitution was formed adapted to the altered circumstances of the country, which continued in force until 1790, when a new one was substituted. This was amended in 1837 by the introduction of some very radical changes. Other amendments were made in 1850, In 1857, and in 1864. In 1874 a new constitution was adopted, which remains still in force with minor amendments.