Rhode Island — Thomas Dorr | The "Proposed Constitution of the State of Rhode Island…"

Rhode Island — Thomas Dorr

Proposed Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, as Finally Adopted by the People's Convention, Assembled at Providence on the 18th day of November, 1841 (caption title). [Providence: Office of the New Age, 1841]

4to (300 x 242 mm). Eight pages, text printed in two columns; foxing, staining, soiling, marginal chips, and old folds with a number of small holes costing a few letters. In custom clamshell case and folding chemise.

For the first few decades of its statehood, Rhode Island was governed in accordance with the 1663 colonial charter, meaning that voting rights were restricted to landowners holding at least $134 in property. This functionally disenfranchised over half of the state's male citizens. In 1841, Thomas Dorr and his followers organized an extralegal convention to draft a state constitution, arguing that the charter government violated the Guarantee Clause in Article Four, Section Four of the United States Constitution. In 1842, the charter government and Dorr's supporters held separate elections, resulting in rival governments claiming sovereignty over the state. While Dorr was ultimately arrested on charges of treason, later that same year, the legislature drafted a state constitution.