 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Rhode Island General Assembly" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Rhode Island General Assembly | |
|---|---|
.svg) Seal of the State of Rhode Island | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
| History | |
| Founded | Original Charter July 8, 1663 (362 years ago) (1663-07-08) Modern Form January 20, 1987 (39 years ago) (1987-01-20) |
New session started | January 3, 2023 (2023-01-03) |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats |
|
 | |
Senate political groups | Majority (33)
Minority (4)
Vacant (1)
|
 | |
House of Representatives political groups | Majority (65)
Minority (10)
|
| Elections | |
LastSenate election | November 5, 2024 |
LastHouse of Representatives election | November 5, 2024 |
NextSenate election | 2026 |
NextHouse of Representatives election | 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Rhode Island State House Providence | |
| Website | |
| Rhode Island Legislature | |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution of Rhode Island | |
TheState of Rhode Island General Assembly is thestate legislature of theU.S. state ofRhode Island. Abicameral body, it is composed of thelowerRhode Island House of Representatives with 75 representatives, and theupperRhode Island Senate with 38 senators. Members are elected in the general election immediately preceding the beginning of the term or in special elections called to fill vacancies. There are no term limits for either chamber. The last General Assembly election took place on 2024, electing members to theSenate andHouse.
The General Assembly meets at theRhode Island State House on the border ofDowntown andSmith Hill inProvidence. Smith Hill is sometimes used as ametonym for the Rhode Island General Assembly.[1]
On June 12, 1775, the Rhode Island General Assembly met atEast Greenwich to pass a resolution creating the first formal, governmentally authorizednavy in theWestern Hemisphere:
"It is voted and resolved, that the committee of safety be, and they are hereby, directed to charter two suitable vessels, for the use of the colony, and fit out the same in the best manner, to protect the trade of this colony... "That the largest of the said vessels be manned with eighty men, exclusive of officers; and be equipped with ten guns, four-pounders; fourteen swivel guns, a sufficient number of small arms, and all necessary warlike stores. "That the small vessel be manned with a number not exceeding thirty men. "That the whole be included in the number of fifteen hundred men, ordered to be raised in this colony... "That they receive the same bounty and pay as the land forces..."[2][3]
The Rhode Island General Assembly was one of the thirteen colonial legislatures that rejected British rule in theAmerican War of Independence. The General Assembly was the first legislative body during the war to seriously consider independence fromGreat Britain. On May 4, 1776, five months before theContinental Congress formally adopted theUnited States Declaration of Independence, Rhode Island became the first colony of what would soon be the futureUnited States to legally leave theBritish Empire.William Ellery and the first chancellor ofBrown UniversityStephen Hopkins were signatories to the Declaration of Independence for Rhode Island.
Adecisive march ending with the defeat of British forces commanded byCharles Cornwallis began inNewport, Rhode Island under the command of French forces sent byKing Louis XVI and led by theComte de Rochambeau. The American forces in the march were jointly led by GeneralGeorge Washington. The march proceeded throughProvidence, Rhode Island and ended with the defeat of British forces following theSiege of Yorktown atYorktown, Virginia and the navalBattle of the Chesapeake.Nathanael Greene was a member along with his cousin,Christopher Greene.
Over a decade after the war, the General Assembly led by theCountry Party pushed aside calls to join the newly formedfederal government, citing its demands that aBill of Rights should be included in the newfederal U.S. Constitution and its opposition to slavery. With a Bill of Rights under consideration and with an ultimatum from the newfederal government of the United States that it would begin to impose export taxes on Rhode Island goods if it did not join the Union, the General Assembly relented. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island became the last of theThirteen Colonies to sign the U.S. Constitution, becoming the thirteenthU.S. state (and the smallest).
From 1663 until 1842, Rhode Island's governingstate constitution was its originalcolonial charter granted byKing Charles II of England and written by the EnglishBaptistminister and co-founder of Rhode IslandRev. John Clarke, a political anomaly considering that while most states during theWar of Independence and afterwards wrote scores of new constitutions with their newly found independence in mind, Rhode Island instead continued with a document stamped by an English king. Even nearly seventy years after U.S. independence, Rhode Island continued to operate with the 1663 Charter, leaving it after 1818 (whenConnecticut, the other holdout, dropped its colonial charter for a contemporary constitution) the only state whose official legal document was passed by a foreign monarch.
While the 1663 Charter was democratic considering its time period, rising national demands for voting suffrage in response to theIndustrial Revolution put strains on the colonial document. By the early 1830s, only 40% of the state's white males could vote, one of the lowest white male voting franchise percentages in the entireUnited States. For its part, the General Assembly proved to be an obstacle for change, not eager to see its traditional wealthy voting base shrink.
Constitutional reform came to a head in 1841 when supporters ofuniversal suffrage led byThomas Wilson Dorr, dissatisfied with the conservative General Assembly and the state's conservativegovernor,Samuel Ward King, held the extralegal People's Convention, calling on Rhode Islanders to debate a new liberal constitution. At the same time, the General Assembly began its own constitution convention dubbed the Freeman's Convention, making some democratic concessions to Dorr supporters, while keeping other aspects of the 1663 Charter intact.
Elections in late 1841 and early 1842 led to both sides claiming to be the legitimatestate government, each with their own respective constitutions in hand. In the days following the highly confusing and contentious 1842 gubernatorial andstate legislature elections, Governor King declared martial law. Liberal Dorr supporters took up arms to begin theDorr Rebellion.
The short-lived rebellion proved unsuccessful in overthrowing Governor King and the General Assembly. The Freeman's Constitution eventually was debated upon by the legislature and passed by the electorate. Although not as liberal as the People's document, the 1843 Freeman's Constitution did greatly increase male suffrage in Rhode Island, including ending the racial requirement.[1]Archived July 20, 2008, at theWayback Machine Further revisions in the 1843 document were made by the General Assembly and passed by the electorate in 1986.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
