1. In June 1776 the General Assembly in the “Lower Counties on the Delaware” suspended ties with the British Crown. Just a few weeks later, & after a dramatic vote from its delegation in favor of Independence, the GA called for a constitution. #50Weeks50Constitutions
2. The delegates from the colony’s three counties met in late August 1776 & put together a full constitution, with a full declaration of rights, in less than a month’s time. Much of it was taken from the old colonial government docs, but there were some changes.
3. A bi-cameral legislature chose the executive, titled a “president” & assisted by a privy council. Only property holders could vote & only trinitarians could serve in the legislature. The dec of rights protected, among other things, the press, independent judges & revolution. 
4. The initial constitution lasted through when Delaware became the “First State” to ratify the U.S. variety (Fifth state to have a constitution of its own, if you’re counting), but made way in 1792 for a new version.
5. The new constitution was a lot like Pennsylvania’s new constitution from 1790. This is not surprising, because delegate John Dickinson—a “founding father” of both states, who had served in various governmental roles for both—was a delegate at PA’s recent convention as well.
6. The 1792 constitution had a stronger “governor,” took out the trinitarian requirement, & redid the courts quite a bit. It added a new “Court of Chancery,” something that today’s corporate lawyers are good friends with.
7. Oddly, Chancery was not created for law students & the casebook industry, but b/c the delegates had a man in mind to serve as chief justice of the highest court, but didn’t want to force out the former occupant. So he became the Chancellor.
8. Sooner rather than later, folks were dissatisfied with the new constitution, mostly because of the lack of a requirement that judges have legal training. So after many failed attempts, another convention was held in 1831.
9. The new convention—which featured battles between Jacksonians and “anti-Jacksonians” (not an uncontroversial President Andrew was)—was a modest modification of the older version. It reorganized the courts, but didn’t require judges have the hoped-for training.
10. Another thing the 1831 Constitution did is make it very hard to call a new convention. The people voted for one in 1852, but didn’t reach the needed supermajority. But, the legislature went ahead and approved a convention anyway!
11. This “extra-legal” convention met and banged-out a constitution, but it was rejected by the voters. A fickle lot they are, I tell you.
12. Years later a solution was found: amend the process for calling a convention. (Why they didn’t think of that before, I’m not sure.) Once that was done a convention was quickly allowed, which then began meeting in December 1896.
13. This convention brought the constitution up to date, with a longer version talking issues of the age into account, including railroads. It also addressed apportionment, given the population growth in New Castle county (the state has only 3 counties, btw).
14. One failed attempt at the 1897 convention was women’s suffrage. That would have to wait until the 19th Amendment in 1920.
15. Sources: Randy Holland, The Delaware State Constitution (2017); avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/d…
courts.delaware.gov/chancery/histo…
courts.delaware.gov/chancery/histo…
