Opinion ID: 2333047
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: 1776 Delaware Constitution

Text: Following the Declaration of Independence from the English monarchy, the historic authority of general sovereignty became vested in each of the former colonial states. [26] As new sovereign entities, each state drafted its own constitution. [27] The first colonial constitutions attempted to set forth in writing universal principles, grounded in reason. [28] The challenge in writing state constitutions was to reconcile the known conceptions of sovereignty with notions about the popular foundations of legitimate government. [29] Those efforts were influenced by philosophers, such as Charles Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Locke, and by English common-law scholars, like Edward Coke, Henry deBracton and William Blackstone. [30] Each state constitution attempted to define sovereignty with precision and to restrain its exercise within marked boundaries. [31] The first Delaware Constitution and the Declaration of Rights and Fundamental Rules of the Delaware State (Declaration of Rights) were adopted in September 1776. The primary authorship of the 1776 Delaware Constitution and Declaration of Rights is traditionally ascribed to Thomas McKean, a Delaware lawyer and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. [32] McKean had studied the English common law at the Middle Temple in London, where he was a contemporary of William Blackstone. [33] The first section of the Declaration of Rights reflected a continued adherence to the philosophy of Locke and provided that all government of right originates from the people, is founded in compact only, and instituted solely for the good of the whole. [34] The first Delaware Constitution also reflected a continued adherence to the English common law and stated: The common law of England, as well as so much of the statute law as have been heretofore adopted in practice in this State, shall remain in force, unless they shall be altered by a future law of the Legislature; such parts only excepted as are repugnant to the rights and privileges contained in this constitution.... [35] The 1776 Delaware Constitution was preceded by the Declaration of Rights. [36] The principles from the Magna Charta that protected property rights were included in the 1776 Declaration of Rights. Section 10 provided that every member of society hath a right to be protected in the enjoyment of life, liberty and property [and] ... no part of a man's property can be justly taken from him or applied to public uses without his own consent or that of his legal Representatives. [37] Section 12 provided that every freeman for every injury done him in his goods, lands or person, by any other person, ought to have remedy by course of the law of the land. [38]