Assembly, New York State

New York's first British colonial governors ruled the province only with the aid of a Council but with no assembly representative of the colonists. Between 1664, when King Charles II granted the conquered New Netherland territory to his brother James, Duke of York, and 1863, citizens increasingly called for the establishment of a general assembly. In 1681, members of the Court of Assizes petitioned the Duke for an Assembly to be elected by freeholders, and citizen unrest was apparent in, among other things, their refusal to pay taxes. Finally, in 1683, James appointed Colonel Thomas Dongan as New York's new governor and, to quiet the colonists' unrest, instructed him to call an Assembly. The Assembly was to share with the governor and Council the power to make laws and raise money, although custody and the actual distribution of the funds remained with the governor. The Assembly delegates met with Dongan and his Council in October 1683 and passed the "Charter of Liberties and Privileges". This act authorized the election by freeholders and freemen of an Assembly which would share legislative powers with the Governor and Council. Dongan and James approved the act although it was vetoed by the King in March 1684. In 1686 James, having assumed the throne, disallowed the act and abolished the Assembly. A representative assembly was revived under the controversial administration of Jacob Leisler. An elected assembly was permanently reestablished (Laws of 1691, Chapter 10) following Leisler's execution for treason in 1691. This body continued uninterrupted until dissolved in 1776 under Governor Tryon. During this time, the Assembly gradually won from the Governor oversight and then a measure of control over public funds, and it increased its legislative activity concerning all aspects of colonial administration. The Assembly also attempted, although with little success, to establish control over the courts. Although the Assembly fought long and hard with governors and Parliament over control of financial matters and objected to many of the oppressive measures taken by the British government in the years leading to the Revolution, it nevertheless remained loyal to British rule -- probably a major factor in the provincial governors' refusal to call elections for a new Assembly. When the Assembly refused to appoint delegates to the Second Continental Congress scheduled to meet in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, New York City's radical Committee of 60 called on county citizens' committees to select delegates to a provincial convention which would choose representatives to send to the Continental Congress. This convention, or First Provincial Congress, met on April 20, 1775 and constituted New York's first extralegal government organization representing the entire state. When the Fourth Provincial Congress convened on June 9, 1776, it immediately approved the Declaration of Independence and renamed itself the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York. The Convention appointed a committee to draft a proposal for a new state government. On April 20, 1777, the Convention approved the Committee's proposed state constitution, thus establishing New York's first state government. The Constitution of 1777 followed closely the colonial form of government but also incorporated some changes. The bicameral legislature was comprised of a Senate whose members were elected from four districts every four years; and the Assembly, whose members were elected to one-year terms. The number of Assemblymen elected from each district was proportionate to the district's population. The Constitution did not specify the powers and duties of the Assembly, merely stating that it would continue to act in the manner and with the privileges of the colonial Assembly. The early State Assembly conducted much of its business through ad hoc committees appointed to deal with single issues as they arose, including the disposition of petitions from citizens requesting settlement of civil disputes or other legal issues. Many of these issues, and the records documenting them, concerned land, then the state's greatest economic asset. Among the land-related issues reflected in these records are the confiscation during the Revolution of lands belonging to loyalists; the distribution of bounty lands to those serving the state during the Revolution; and settlement of claims and confirmation of title to Indian lands. The increasing complexity of legislative activity and the passing of the Revolutionary War generation encouraged better care of the Legislature's records. As early as 1801, the Assembly had resolved to employ John McKesson, former Supreme Court Clerk, to arrange records of the Revolutionary War era, but the Senate did not concur. On April 20, 1830, the Assembly passed a resolution directing Secretary of State A. C. Flagg to examine the Assembly archives and select records to be transferred to the Secretary of State's office. An 1831 law (Chapter 323, Section 11) appropriated funds to pay for the examination and arrangement of the Assembly's records. From May 30-July 19, 1831, Flagg examined the Assembly's archives dating from 1778-1831, selecting records of historical, legal or other value to the state and its citizens. The selected records were deposited in the Secretary of State's office, organized by subject and arranged chronologically, indexed, and bound into 43 volumes. A concurrent resolution of the Legislature passed December 15, 1847 directed the transfer of the "Assembly Papers" to the State Library. In 1911, the library, then located in the State Capitol, was destroyed by the Capitol Fire. The Assembly Papers survived the fire but suffered burn damage. The volumes were disbound and most of the records were placed on silk mesh.