Eleanor Finch
The Ohio Constitution of 1803 was the state's first constitution. It was drafted in November 1802 by 35 delegates, including Judge Charles Willing Byrd, who was the primary author. The constitution was influenced by those of Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky and it provided for a weak governor and a powerful bicameral legislature, known as the General Assembly. The document became law on February 19, 1803, when it was approved by President Jefferson, marking Ohio's admission to the United States as the 17th state. The Ohio Constitution of 1803 addressed various matters, including voting rights, the governor's powers, slavery, and education. It remained in effect until 1851, when a new constitution was adopted.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of writing | November 1802 |
| Date of approval | February 19, 1803 |
| Date of statehood | March 1, 1803 |
| Main author | Judge Charles Willing Byrd |
| Influences | 1796 Constitution of Tennessee, Constitutions of Pennsylvania and Kentucky |
| Voting rights | All white men who paid taxes or helped build and maintain roads |
| Governor's term | 2 years |
| Governor's power | Weak, with no veto power |
| Legislature | Ohio General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate |
| Legislative term | Representatives: 1 year; Senators: 2 years |
| Legislative power | Strong, with the right to approve all appointments made by the governor |
| Amendments | Only by convention |
| Ban on slavery | Yes |
| African American suffrage | No |
| Religion | Support for public education and religion-influenced civil morality |
| Number of delegates | 35 |
| Number of conventions | 4 |
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What You'll Learn
Ohio's first state constitution
The constitution was modelled after the 1796 constitution of Tennessee, with influences from Pennsylvania and Kentucky. It provided for a "weak" governor and judiciary, with limited powers, and vested most power in the bicameral legislature, known as the General Assembly. The General Assembly consisted of the House of Representatives and the Senate, with representatives serving one-year terms and senators serving two-year terms. The governor, on the other hand, had a two-year term and lacked the power to veto acts of the legislature. All appointments made by the governor required the approval of the General Assembly, which also selected Ohio's judges.
The 1803 constitution included a ban on slavery, honouring the Northwest Ordinance, but it failed to extend suffrage to African-American men. Only white men who paid taxes or helped build and maintain roads had the right to vote. The constitution also included provisions related to education and religion, influenced by the Federalist beliefs of Ephraim Cutler, a member of the committee on the Bill of Rights.
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Distrust of a strong governor
The Ohio Constitution of 1803 was the state's first constitution. It was drafted in November 1802 by 35 delegates, who met in Chillicothe, Ohio, to create a document that would allow Ohio to become a state in the United States. The constitution was heavily influenced by the perception that Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, had ruled in a heavy-handed manner. St. Clair had pursued his own policy goals and failed to work collaboratively with the territorial legislature. As a result, the Ohio Constitution of 1803 provided for a "weak" governor and judiciary, with most power being vested in a bicameral legislature, known as the General Assembly.
The constitution outlined a two-year term for the governor, who lacked the power to veto acts of the legislature. Notably, the General Assembly had to approve all appointments made by the governor, including the selection of Ohio's judges. This marked a significant shift from the strong governorship under St. Clair, where he had pursued his agenda with little regard for the territorial legislature.
The General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, held significant power in the new state structure. Representatives served one-year terms, while senators served for two years. The legislature was responsible for appointing most executive branch officers and judges, further highlighting the diminished role of the governor in the state's governance.
The Ohio Constitution of 1803 was designed to address the distrust of a strong governor and the perceived heavy-handed rule of Arthur St. Clair. By vesting power primarily in the legislature, the constitution aimed to create a more balanced and collaborative form of governance for the state of Ohio. This constitution remained in effect until the Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1851, where a new constitution was adopted.
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Voting rights for white men
The Ohio Constitution of 1803 was the state's first constitution, and it provided voting rights to all white men, provided they paid taxes or contributed to the building and maintenance of the state's roads. This was significant as it was one of the most democratic state constitutions in America at the time.
The constitution was drafted in November 1802 by 35 delegates, including Judge Charles Willing Byrd, who was the primary author. It was influenced by the constitutions of Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, and it favoured the platform of the Democratic-Republican Party. The document was formally presented to Congress in December 1802 and became law on February 19, 1803, when it was approved by President Jefferson, marking Ohio's admission as the 17th state of the United States.
The 1803 Constitution provided for a weak governor and judiciary, with most power vested in the bicameral legislature, known as the General Assembly. The legislature consisted of the House of Representatives and the Senate, with representatives serving one-year terms and senators serving two-year terms. The governor, on the other hand, had a two-year term and lacked the power to veto acts of the legislature, with all appointments requiring the approval of the General Assembly.
The constitution also included a ban on slavery, honouring one of the provisions of the Northwest Ordinance. However, it failed to extend suffrage to African-American men, prohibiting their right to vote. This exclusion of African Americans from suffrage was a significant shortcoming of the 1803 Constitution, and it reflected the racial biases of the time.
The Ohio Constitution of 1803 remained in effect until 1851 when a new constitution was adopted during the Ohio Constitutional Convention of that year. The 1851 constitution eliminated the legislature's appointment power, marking a shift in the balance of power between the branches of government.
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Ban on slavery
The original 1803 Ohio Constitution included a ban on slavery, but this ban was not absolute. While the constitution prohibited slavery, it also included a provision that prohibited African Americans from voting, effectively rendering them unequal in the eyes of the law. This contradiction highlights the complex nature of race relations and the struggle for racial equality in the United States at the time.
The Ohio Constitution of 1851, which replaced the 1803 document, built upon this complex legacy. While it explicitly banned slavery in the state, it left open one notable exception. The constitution stated, "There shall be no slavery in this state; nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime." This loophole allowed for the continued use of slavery as a form of punishment for convicted individuals.
The exception for criminal punishment in the 1851 constitution reflected a broader national context. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery across the nation but similarly allowed for an exception for criminal punishment. This exception has been a persistent reminder of the complicated history of race and slavery in the United States, and it continues to have repercussions in the present.
In recent years, there have been renewed efforts to address this issue. The Ohio Legislative Black Caucus (OLBC) has led the way in attempting to remove the exception for criminal punishment from the state constitution. In 2016, OLBC President and State Representative Alicia Reece, along with other members of the caucus, introduced a resolution to strip the language of slavery from the constitution. The resolution aimed to remove the phrase "unless for the punishment of crime," asserting that "there can be no acceptable circumstance for slavery in our state, and our constitution must reflect that."
Despite these efforts, the exception remains in the Ohio Constitution. In 2020, State Representative Stephanie Howse, who serves as the President of the OLBC, reiterated the need to remove the exception, stating that it has no place in the modern era. The process of amending the constitution is complex, and advocates recognize that it will require a broad coalition of criminal justice reformers to succeed. However, they remain optimistic, drawing inspiration from successful ballot initiatives in other states that have prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude as forms of punishment.
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Influence of Jefferson's Danbury Letter
The original 1803 Ohio Constitution was written due to the perception that territorial governor Arthur St. Clair had ruled in a heavy-handed manner. The constitution provided for a "`weak` governor and judiciary", and vested most power in a bicameral legislature, known as the General Assembly. The first General Assembly first met in Chillicothe, the new state capital, on March 1, 1803, which is considered the date of Ohio statehood.
On January 1, 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut in response to their letter congratulating him on his election to the presidency. In their letter, the Danbury Baptists complained about the Connecticut Federalist government's religious oppression and supported the need for freedom of conscience. Jefferson's letter has become famous for its inclusion of the phrase "a wall of separation between Church & State," which was a much more novel expression at the time of writing. In his letter, Jefferson also presented the "wall of separation" as an interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment.
Jefferson's letter gained greater attention in 1878 when the Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States cited it as an "authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the [first] amendment." The idea of a "wall of separation" became more controversial as more Supreme Court cases referenced it, such as in McCullom v. Board of Education (1947), where the Court used Jefferson's phrase to support its decision to forbid religious instruction in public schools.
Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists was carefully crafted and extensively edited, with over thirty percent of the original draft being changed. He also sent the draft to two cabinet members who were politicians in New England, recognising that the letter would have political significance beyond mere correspondence. In a letter to Attorney General Levi Lincoln of Massachusetts, Jefferson wrote that he viewed the Danbury letter as a method of "sowing useful truths and principles among the people, which might germinate and become rooted among their political tenets." He also stated that he had two goals in sending the letter: to assert "a condemnation of the alliance between church and state" and to explain "why I do not proclaim fastings & thanksgivings, as my predecessors did."
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Frequently asked questions
The Ohio Constitution of 1803 was written to serve as the state's first constitution, which was a requirement for Ohio to become a state in the United States.
The 1803 Ohio Constitution provided all white men with the right to vote, assuming they paid taxes or helped build and maintain roads. It also banned slavery and prohibited African Americans from voting. The constitution provided for a weak governor, with a two-year term and no veto power, and a strong bicameral legislature called the General Assembly, which consisted of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The 1803 Ohio Constitution was influenced by the perception that the territorial governor, Arthur St. Clair, had ruled heavy-handedly. The constitution, therefore, provided for a weak governor and a strong legislature. The primary author of the document, Judge Charles Willing Byrd, also used the 1796 constitution of Tennessee as a model, along with influences from the constitutions of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
The 1803 Ohio Constitution was significant as it marked the statehood of Ohio, which became the 17th state on March 1, 1803. It was also one of the most democratic state constitutions in America at that time. The constitution remained in effect until 1851 when a new one was adopted.
