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ACT FOR AN and to the utmost of my power, will support, maintain, and defend the Freedom and Independence thereof.”

Олтн

OF

ALLEGIANCE.

And be it further Ordained, by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons to whom the said Oath shall be tendered, shall refuse to take the same, then he or they shall within sixty days after such refusal, or as soon as may be thereafter, be sent off from this State, taking his or their family or families with them, if he or they shall think fit so to do, to Europe or the West Indies, at the public expense, except such persons as in the opinion of the President and Privy Council, are able to pay their own expenses. Provided, nevertheless, that all and every such person and persons, shall be at liberty to sell and dispose of his or their estates and interest in this State, and (after satisfying all just and equitable claims and demands which shall be brought against him or them) to carry the amount and produce thereof with him or them, and also to nominate and appoint an Attorney or Attornies (to be approved by the President and Privy Council) to sell and dispose of his or their estate or estates, and in like manner with the subjects of this State to demand security or sue for, as the case may be, and recover in his or their name or names all such debts and sums of money as are or shall be due, owing, or payable to him or them respectively, and to remit the same to him or them respectively in such way and manner as they shall think fit, Provided it be not repugnant to the Resolutions of Congress or Laws of this State. And be it further Ordained, by the authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons so sent off from the State shall return to the same, then he or they shall be adjudged guilty of Treason against this State, and shall upon conviction thereof, suffer Death as a Traitor.

And be it further Ordained, by the authority aforesaid, that all and every Person or Persons in this State who shall hereafter accept or take any Office or Place of Trust or emolument under the Authority thereof, shall, before he enters upon the execution of such Office or Place of Trust, take the oath before mentioned.

In the Council Chamber, the thirteenth day of February, 1777.

ASSENTED TO:

JOHN MATHEWS,

J. RUTLEDGE.

HUGH RUTLEDGE, Speaker of the Legislative Council.

Speaker of the General Assembly.

THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA,

19TH MARCH, 1778.

[See Pamphlet Laws, Reports and Resolutions, 1823, p. 156 et seq.]

SOUTH CAROLINA.

At a General Assembly begun and holden at Charlestown, on Monday the fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and from thence continued by divers adjournments to the nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight.

An Act for establishing the Constitution of the State of South Carolina.

Whereas, the constitution or form of government agreed to and resolved upon by the freemen of this country, met in Congress the twenty sixth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, was temporary only, and suited to the situation of their public affairs at that period, looking forward to an accommodation with Great Britain, an event then desired. And whereas, the United Colonies of America have been since constituted independent states, and the political connexion heretofore subsisting between them and Great Britain entirely dissolved by the declaration of the honourable the Continental Congress, dated the fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, for the many great and weighty reasons therein particularly set forth. It therefore becomes absolutely necessary to frame a constitution suitable to that great

event.

Be it therefore constituted and enacted, by his Excellency Rawlins Lowndes, Esq. President and Commander in Chief, in and over the State of South Carolina, by the honourable the legislative council and General Assembly, and by the authority of the same:

That the following articles agreed upon by the freemen of this state, now met in general assembly, be deemed and held the constitution and form of government of the said state, unless altered by the legislative authority thereof, which constitution or form of government shall immediately take place and be of force from the passing of this act, excepting such parts as are hereafter mentioned and specified.

VOL. I.-18.

CONSTITUTION

OF

1778.

I. That the style of this country be hereafter, the State of South Carolina.

II. That the legislative authority be vested in a general assembly, to consist of two distinct bodies, a senate and house of representatives, but that the legislature of this state, as established by the constitution or form of government, passed the twenty sixth of March, one thousand seven hundred and seventy six, shall continue and be in full force until the twenty ninth day of November ensuing.

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III. That as soon as may be, after the first meeting of the senate and house of representatives, and at every first meeting of the senate and house of representatives thereafter, to be elected by virtue of this constitution, they shall jointly in the house of representatives, choose by ballot from among themselves or from the people at large, a governor and commander in chief, a lieutenant-governor, both to continue for two years, and a privy council, all of the protestant religion; and till such choice shall be made, the former president or governor and commander in chief, and vice president or lieutenant governor as the case may be, and privy council, shall continue to act as such.

IV. That a member of the senate or house of representatives, being chosen and acting as governor and commander in chief, or lieutenant governor, shall vacate his scat and another person shall be elected in his room.

V. That every person who shall be elected governor and commander in chief of the state, or lieutenant-governor, or a member of the privy council, shall be qualified as followeth; (that is to say,) the governor and lieutenant-governor shall have been residents in this state for ten years, and the members of the privy council, five years, preceding their said election, and shall have in this state, a settled plantation or freehold in their, and each of their own right, of the value of at least ten thousand pounds currency, clear of debt, and on being elected, they shall respectively take an oath of qualification in the house of representatives.

VI. That no future governor and commander in chief who shall serve for two years, shall be eligible to serve in the said office after the expiration of the said term, until the full end and term of four years.

VII. That no person in this state shall hold the office of governor thereof, or lieutenant-governor, and any other office or commission, civil or military, (except in the militia) either in this or any other state, or under the authority of the continental congress, at one and the same

time.

VIII. That in case of the impeachment of the governor and commander in chief, or his removal from office, death, resignation or absence from the state, the lieutenant governor shall succeed to his office, and the privy council shall choose out of their own body, a lieutenant-governor of the state. And in case of the impeachment of the lieutenant governor, or his removal from office, death, resignation or absence from the state, one of the privy council, to be chosen by themselves, shall succeed to his office until a nomination to those offices respectively, by the senate and house of representatives, for the remainder of the time for which the officer so impeached, removed from office, dying, resigning, or being absent, was appointed.

IX. That the privy council shall consist of the lieutenant-governor for the time being, and eight other members, five of whom shall be a quorum, to be chosen as before directed; four to serve for two years, and four for one year, and at the expiration of one year, four others shall be chosen in the room of the last four, to serve for two years, and all future mem

:

OF

1778.

bers of the privy council shall thenceforward be elected to serve two CONSTITUTION years, whereby there will be a new election every year for half the privy council, and a constant rotation established; but no member of the privy council who shall serve for two years, shall be eligible to serve therein after the expiration of the said term, until the full end and term of four years; provided always, that no officer of the army or navy in the service of the continent or this state, nor judge of any of the courts of law, shall be eligible, nor shall the father, son or brother to the governor for the time being, be elected in the privy council during his administration. A member of the senate and house of representatives being chosen of the privy council, shall not thereby lose his seat in the senate or house of representatives, unless he be elected lieutenant-governor, in which case he shall, and another person shall be chosen in his stead. The privy council is to advise the governor and commander in chief when required, but he shall not be bound to consult them unless directed by law. If a member of the privy council shall die or depart this state during the recess of the general assembly, the privy council shall choose another to act in his room, until a nomination by the senate and house of representatives, shall take place. The clerk of the privy council shall keep a regular journal of all their proceedings, in which shall be entered the yeas and nays on every question, and the opinion with the reasons at large, of any member who desires it; which journal shall be laid before the legislature when required by either house.

X. That in case of the absence from the seat of government, or sickness of the governor and lieutenant-governor, any one of the privy council may be empowered by the governor, under his hand and seal, to act in his room, but such appointment shall not vacate his seat in the senate, house of representatives or privy council.

XI. That the executive authority be vested in the governor and commander in chief, in manner herein mentioned.

XII. That each parish and district throughout this state, shall, on the last Monday in November next and the day following, and on the same days of every succeeding year thereafter, elect by ballot one member of the senate, except the district of St. Philip and St. Michael's parishes, Charleston, which shall elect two members; and except also the district between Broad and Saluda rivers, in three divisions viz: the Lower district, the Little River district, and the Upper or Spartan district, each of which said divisions shall elect one member; and except the parishes of St. Matthew, and Orange, which shall elect one member; and also except the parishes of Prince George and All Saints, which shall elect one member: And the election of senators for such parishes respectively, shall, until otherwise altered by the legislature, be at the parish of Prince George for the said parish and the parish of All Saints, and at the parish of St. Matthew for that parish and the parish of Orange; to meet on the first Monday in January then next, at the seat of government, unless the casualties of war, or contagious disorders, should render it unsafe to meet there, in which case, the governor and commander in chief for the time being, may, by proclamation, with the advice and consent of the privy council, appoint a more secure and convenient place of meeting; and to continue for two years from the said last Monday in November; and that no person shall be eligible to a seat in the said senate unless he be of the protestant religion, and hath attained the age of thirty years, and hath been a resident in this state at least five years. Not less than thirteen members shall be a quorum to do business, but the president or any three members may adjourn from day to day. No person who resides in the parish or district for which he is elected, shall take his seat in the

OF 1778.

CONSTITUTION Senate, unless he possess a settled estate and freehold in his own right in the said parish or district, of the value of two thousand pounds currency at least, clear of debt; and no non resident shall be eligible to a seat in the said senate, unless he is owner of a settled estate and freeheld in his own right, in the parish or district where he is elected, of the value of seven thousand pounds currency at least, also clear of debt.

XIII. That on the last Monday in November next, and the day following, and on the same days of every second year thereafter, members of the house of representatives shall be chosen, to meet on the first Monday in January then next, at the seat of government, unless the casualties of war or contagious disorders should render it unsafe to meet there, in which case the governor and commander in chief for the time being, may, by proclamation, with the advice and consent of the privy council, appoint a more secure and convenient place of meeting, and to continue for two years from the said last Monday in November. Each parish and district within this state shall send members to the general assembly in the following proportions, (that is to say,) the parish of St. Philip and St. Michael's, Charleston, thirty members; the parish of Christ Church, six members; the parish of St. John's, in Berkely county, six members; the parish of St. Andrew, six members; the parish of St. George, Dorchester, six members; the parish of St. James, Goose Creek, six members; the parish of St. Thomas and St. Dennis, six members; the parish of St. Paul, six members; the parish of St. Bartholomew, six members; the parish of St. Helena, six members; the parish of St. James, Santee, six members; the parish of Prince George, Winyaw, four members; the parish of All Saints, two members; the parish of Prince Frederick, six members; the parish of St. John, in Colleton county, six members; the parish of St. Peter, six members; the parish of Prince William, six members; the parish of St. Stephen, six members; the district to the eastward of Wateree river, ten members; the district of Ninety six, ten members; the district of Saxe Gotha, six members; the district between Broad and Saluda rivers, in three divisions, viz: the Lower district, four members; the Little River district, four members; the Upper or Spartan district, four members; the district between Broad and Catawba rivers, ten members; the district called the New Acquisition, ten members; the parish of St. Matthew, three members; the parish of Orange, three members; the parish of St. David, six members; the district between the Savannah river and the North fork of Edisto, six members. And the election of the said members shall be conducted as near as may be agreeable to the directions of the present or any future election act or acts; and where there are no Churches or Church Wardens in a district or parish, the house of representatives, at some couvenient time before their expiration, shall appoint places of election, and persons to receive votes and make returns. The qualification of electors shall be that every free white man, and no other person, who acknowledges the being of a God, and believes in a future state of rewards and punishments, and who has attained to the age of one and twenty years, and hath been a resident and an inhabitant in this state for the space of one whole year before the day appointed for the election, (he offers to give his vote at) and hath a freehold at least of fifty acres of land, or a town lot, and hath been legally seized and possessed of the same at least six months previous to such election, or hath paid a tax the preceding year, or was taxable the present year, at least six months previous to the said election, in a sum equal to the tax on fifty acres of land, to the support of this government, shall be deemed a person qualified to vote for, and shall be capable of electing a representative, or representatives, to

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