XIII
The Constitution of 1851
Constitution of jWarplanb
ADOPTED IN CONVENTION,
WHICH ASSEMBLED AT THE CITY OF ANNAPOLIS ON THE
FOURTH DAY OF NOVEMBER, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND
FIFTY, AND ADJOURNED ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY
OF MAY, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE. '•
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THE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.1
We, the People of the State of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and
religious liberty, and taking into our serious consideration the best means of
establishing a good Constitution in this State, for the sure foundation and more
permanent security thereof, declare:
Article 1. That all government of
right originates from the people, is
1 This is a verbatim reprint of the first
recorded printed edition of the Maryland Con-
stitution of 1851. It was printed in Baltimore
in 1851, prior to its submission to the voters
of the State for their adoption or rejection,
by John Murphy & Co. The punctuation and
capitalization is that originally used. The
copy of the 1851 edition from which this
reprint was prepared is owned by the Mary-
land Historical Society, Baltimore. The Con-
vention's handwritten draft is on file at the
Hall of Records, Annapolis.
Two additional editions of the Maryland
Constitution of 1851 were published by John
Murphy & Co. in 1851: the second with
extensive marginal notes and an appendix by
Edward Otis Hinkley, Esq., after the Con-
stitution was ratified by the people on the
first Wednesday of June, 1851; and the third
apparently later in the same year without the
marginal notes for sale by booksellers generally.
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founded in compact only, and instituted
solely for the good of the whole; and
they have at all times, according to the
mode prescribed in this Constitution, the
unalienable right to alter, reform, or
abolish their form of Government, in
such manner as they may deem expe-
dient.
Art. 2. That the people of this State
ought to have the sole and exclusive
right of regulating the internal govern-
ment and police thereof.
Art. 3. That the inhabitants of Mary-
land are entitled to the common law of
England, and the trial by jury according
to the course of that law, and to the
benefit of such of the English statutes as
existed on the fourth day of July, seven-
teen hundred and seventy-six, and
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