Legislature
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members.
Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can be described as a seat, as, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral.
In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
Stephen M. Sweeney
Stephen M. Steve Sweeney is an American executive and Democratic Party politician who currently serves as the Senate President of New Jersey. He has served in the New Jersey State Senate since 2002, on November 23,2009, Sweeney was selected as Senate President-designate, replacing former Gov. Richard Codey. A Union Ironworker by trade, Sweeney is frequently cited as the most powerful elected Democrat in New Jersey, institutional Investor Magazine ranked Sweeney #12 nationwide on their 2017 Political Pension Power 25 list, ahead of figures such as financier Paul Singer and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. He was widely considered to be a top contender for the 2017 gubernatorial election to succeed Governor Chris Christie, on October 6,2016, Sweeney announced his intention not to run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2017. Sweeney took office as Senate President on January 12,2010, Sweeney was born on June 11,1959 in Camden, New Jersey and graduated from Pennsauken High School in 1977.
He joined Ironworkers Local 399 and gained journeyman status on January 1,1980, Sweeney currently serves as General Vice President of the International Association of Bridge, Structural and Reinforcing Iron Workers. Senator Sweeney and his wife, were married in 1986 and they live in West Deptford Township, New Jersey and have two children and Lauren. Sweeney served on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders, a post he held since 1997,2001 Sweeney defeated eight-term Republican incumbent State Senator Raymond Zane 51%-49%. The race was the most expensive race in New Jersey history at the time, totaling $2.4 million. The record stood until 2003, when $4 million was spent in Fred H. Maddens successful race to unseat George Geist,2003 Sweeney won re-election to a second term defeating Phillip Rhudy 54%-45%. 2007 Sweeney won re-election to a third term defeating Mark Cimino 57%-40%,2011 Sweeney won re-election to a fourth term defeating Michael Mulligan 56%-44%. Sweeney has sponsored laws to raise New Jersey’s minimum wage and create the state’s Paid Family Leave program and he sponsored legislation which would allow security guards at nuclear plants to carry assault weapons and high-powered ammunition to better protect the security of New Jersey residents.
The bill, which was signed into law in September 2003, Senator Sweeney co-sponsored the law providing health benefits to New Jersey National Guard members who serve for 30 days or more on state active duty. He supported efforts to ban the hazardous gasoline additive MTBE which has proven to contaminate ground water. Sweeney sponsored Maggies Law, which establishes driving while seriously fatigued as a form of driver recklessness, the first law of its kind in the United States, Maggies Law was signed by Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey in August 2003. He took office on January 12,2010, in the absence of the governor and lieutenant governor, Sweeney served as acting governor of New Jersey during the eastern seaboard storm of December 2010. In January 2010, Senate President-elect Sweeney abstained when the New Jersey Senate voted on the question of allowing couples to marry. Sweeney called his abstention a mistake and said that the issue was a rights issue
Burlington, New Jersey
Burlington is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Philadelphia. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24,1693, and was reincorporated by Royal charter on May 7,1733, after American independence, the city was incorporated by the State of New Jersey on December 21,1784. On March 14,1851, the city was reincorporated and enlarged with portions of the surrounding township, the council of West Jersey Proprietors purchased roughly 30 miles of riverfront land in 1676 from the Lenape Native Americans. Burlington takes its name from the English east-coast town of Bridlington and it is now amalgamated into the larger Bridlington town. The Quakers formally established their congregation in 1678, they met in private homes, between 1683 and 1687, Francis Collings constructed a hexagonal meeting house of brick. Over the next century, the membership grew substantially and a building was needed. The present meeting house on High Street was built in 1783 in front of the old meeting house, the cemetery predated the first building.
A tablet commemorates that the Lenape chief King Ockanickon, a friend of the English settlers, was buried here in 1681. The oldest gravestone is inscribed D. B, many notable Quakers are buried here. One of the oldest buildings in Burlington is known as the Revell House, originally built in 1685 for George Hutchinson, it stood on East Pearl Street. The property was purchased by Thomas Revell, one of the original European settlers. Local tradition associates this house with the young Benjamin Franklin, who received gingerbread while traveling from Boston to Philadelphia, in the early 20th century, the house was purchased by the Annis Stockton Chapter of the DAR to become their clubhouse. The Colonial Burlington Foundation acquired and restored it in the 1950s, many institutions established in the 18th century continue to function in the 21st century. After the Quakers, the second oldest religious congregation in Burlington were the Episcopalians and their original church, Old St. Marys, remains the oldest church in Burlington and New Jersey.
The congregation was founded in 1702 by George Keith and John Talbot, Talbot became the first minister and laid the cornerstone for the church in 1703. He served as the rector until 1725. The congregation prospered, and the became the see of the Anglican bishops of New Jersey. In 1846, under the leadership of Bishop and Rector George Washington Doane and this early Gothic Revival architecture church was designed by Richard Upjohn, who designed Trinity Church at the foot of Wall Street in Lower Manhattan
County (United States)
In the United States, an administrative or political sub-division of a state is a county, which is a region having specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term county is used in 48 U. S. states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes, most counties have subdivisions which may include municipalities and unincorporated areas. Others have no divisions, or may serve as a singular consolidated city-county. Some municipalities are in multiple counties, New York City is uniquely partitioned into multiple counties/boroughs, the U. S. federal government uses the term county equivalent to describe non-county administrative or statistical areas that are comparable to counties. Alaskas Unorganized Borough is divided into 11 census areas that are equivalent to counties. As of 2013, the United States has 3,007 counties and 137 county equivalents for a total of 3,144 counties, the number of counties per state ranges from the 3 counties of Delaware to the 254 counties of Texas.
Counties have significant governmental functions in all states except Rhode Island and Connecticut, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has removed most government functions from eight of its 14 counties. The county with the largest population, Los Angeles County, counties were among the earliest units of local government established in the Thirteen Colonies that would become the United States. Virginia created the first counties in order to ease the workload in Jamestown. Americas oldest intact county court records can be found at Eastville, Virginia, in Northampton County, maryland established its first county, St. Marys, in 1637, and Massachusetts followed in 1643. When independence came, the framers of the Constitution did not provide for local governments, they left the matter to the states. Subsequently, early state constitutions generally conceptualized county government as an arm of the state, in some states, these powers are partly or mostly devolved to the counties smaller divisions usually called townships, though in New York, New England and Wisconsin they are called towns.
The county may or may not be able to override its townships on certain matters, the newest county in the United States is the city and county of Broomfield, established in 2001 as a consolidated city-county. The newest county-equivalents are the Alaskan boroughs of Skagway established in 2007, Wrangell established in 2008, there are 40 consolidated city-counties in the U. S. Similarly, some of Alaskas boroughs have merged with their principal cities creating unified city-boroughs. Some such consolidations and mergers have created cities that rank among the geographically largest cities in the world, see also, #County names, regarding Louisiana. Independent cities, These are cities that legally belong to no county, Washington, D. C. outside the jurisdiction of any state, has a special status. The city of Washington comprises the entirety of the District of Columbia, when founded in 1801, the District consisted of two counties and three cities. In 1846, Alexandria County – including the then–City of Alexandria – was given back to Virginia, in 1871, the three remaining entities – the City of Washington, Georgetown City, and Washington County – were merged into a consolidated government by an act of Congress
William Franklin
William Franklin FRSE was an American-born attorney, a colonial administrator, and the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. He was the last colonial Governor of New Jersey, Franklin was a steadfast Loyalist throughout the American Revolutionary War. As his father was one of the most prominent Patriots and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, following imprisonment during the war, in 1782 the younger Franklin went into exile in Britain. He lived in London until his death, William Franklin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a colony in British America. He was the son of Benjamin Franklin, a leading figure in the city. Confusion exists about Williams birth and parentage because Benjamin was secretive about his sons origins, in 1750, Ben told his own mother that William was nineteen years old, but this may have been an attempt to make the youth appear legitimate. William was raised by Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Read, his common-law wife, William joined a company of Pennsylvania provincial troops in 1746 and fought in Albany in King Georges War, obtaining the rank of captain in 1747.
As he grew older, he accompanied his father on several missions, although often depicted as a young child when he assisted his father in the famed kite experiment of 1752, William was 21 years old at the time. As a young man, William became engaged to Elizabeth Graeme, daughter of prominent Philadelphia physician Dr. Thomas Graeme and granddaughter of Pennsylvanias 14th Governor, Sir William Keith. Neither family approved of the match, but when William went to London to study law about 1759, while in London, Franklin sired an illegitimate son, William Temple Franklin, who was born 22 February 1762. His mother has never identified, and he was placed in foster care. Later that year, Franklin married Elizabeth Downes on 4 September 1762 at St Georges and she was born in the English colony of Barbados to the sugar planter John Downes and his wife Elizabeth. She met Franklin while visiting England with her father in 1760 and they moved to the New Jersey colony in 1763. William Franklins wife Elizabeth died in 1777 while he was imprisoned as a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War and she was interred beneath the altar of St.
Pauls Chapel in lower Manhattan, where she had resided after the British evacuated Perth Amboy. The memorial plaque on the wall at St. Pauls was commissioned by William Franklin from London and he was a widower for more than ten years. William Franklin completed his law education in England, and was admitted to the bar and Benjamin Franklin became partners and confidants, working together to pursue land grants in what was called the Northwest. Before they left England, the senior Franklin lobbied hard to procure his son an appointment, William Franklin was appointed as Royal Governor of New Jersey. In 1763, William Franklin was appointed as the Royal Governor of New Jersey and he replaced Josiah Hardy, a merchant and colonial administrator
Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U. S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2016 Census estimate, the population was 124,676, making it the states 18th-most populous county. The percentage increase in population between 2000 and 2010 was the largest in New Jersey, almost triple the increase of 4. 5%. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, the Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the county as having the 19th-highest per capita income of all 3,113 counties in the United States as of 2009. It is part of the Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, Hunterdon County was established on March 11,1714, separating from Burlington County, at which time it included all of present-day Morris and Warren counties. The rolling hills and rich soils which produce agricultural crops drew Native American tribes. Hunterdon County is noted for having the second-lowest level of poverty of any county in the United States. Around 500 million years ago, a chain of volcanic islands shaped like an arch collided with proto North America, the rock from the islands created the highlands of Hunterdon County as there was a shallow sea where Hunterdon County is now located.
Then around four hundred million B. C. a small continent that was long and thin and this collision created compression, which caused heat. The Paleozoic sediment of shale and sandstone folded and faulted, the heat allowed the igneous rock to bend, thus Hunterdon County was born. The African plate which collided with North America created more folding and faulting, the African and North America plates tore and drifted away from each other. The Wisconsin glacier that entered into New Jersey around 21,000 BCE, there are glacial outwash deposits from streams and rivers that flowed from the glacier southward depositing rock and sediment. Hunterdon County has two geophysical provinces, the first is the Highlands which is the western section of the county. The other is the Piedmont which is the eastern and southern section of the county, the Highlands account for one third of the area and the Piedmont accounts for two thirds of the county. The Highlands are part of the Reading Prong and shale over igneous rock comprise the Highlands.
The Piedmont includes the Hunterdon Plateau and the Raritan Valley Lowlands which are 150 to 300 feet above sea level, the Piedmont is made up of shale and sandstone. Paleo Indians moved into Hunterdon County between 12,000 BCE and 11,000 BCE, the area was warming due to climate change. The Wisconsin Glacier in Warren and Sussex County was retreating northward, the area was that of Taiga/Boreal forests
Government
A government is the system by which a state or community is controlled. In the Commonwealth of Nations, the government is used more narrowly to refer to the collective group of people that exercises executive authority in a state. This usage is analogous to what is called an administration in American English, government is sometimes used in English as a synonym for governance. In the case of its broad definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. A form of government, or form of governance, refers to the set of political systems. Government of any kind currently affects every human activity in many important ways, in political science, it has long been a goal to create a typology or taxonomy of polities. as typologies of political systems are not obvious. It is especially important in the science fields of comparative politics. On the surface, identifying a form of government appears to be simple, the United States is a constitutional republic, while the former Soviet Union was a socialist republic.
However self-identification is not objective, and as Kopstein and Lichbach argue, for example, elections are a defining characteristic of an electoral democracy, but in practice elections in the former Soviet Union were not free and fair and took place in a one-party state. Voltaire argued that the Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, many governments that officially call themselves a democratic republic are not democratic, nor a republic, they are usually a dictatorship de facto. Communist dictatorships have been prone to use this term. For example, the name of North Vietnam was The Democratic Republic of Vietnam. China uses a variant, The Peoples Republic of China, thus in many practical classifications it would not be considered democratic. Experience with those movements in power, and the ties they may have to particular forms of government. For example, The meaning of conservatism in the United States has little in common with the way the words definition is used elsewhere, as Ribuffo notes, what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism.
Since the 1950s conservatism in the United States has been associated with the Republican Party. However, during the era of segregation many Southern Democrats were conservatives, values are sorted from 1–100 based on level of democracy and political accountability
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U. S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was briefly the capital of the United States, as of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913, making it the states 10th-largest municipality. The Census Bureau estimated that the population was 84,034 in 2014. Trenton dates back at least to June 3,1719, when mention was made of a constable being appointed for Trenton, while the area was still part of Hunterdon County. Boundaries were recorded for Trenton Township as of March 2,1720, a courthouse and jail were constructed in Trenton around 1720, Trenton became New Jerseys capital as of November 25,1790, and the City of Trenton was formed within Trenton Township on November 13,1792. Trenton Township was incorporated as one of New Jerseys initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21,1798, on February 22,1834, portions of Trenton Township were taken to form Ewing Township. The remaining portion of Trenton Township was absorbed by the City of Trenton on April 10,1837, portions of Ewing Township and Hamilton Township were annexed to Trenton on March 23,1900.
The first settlement which would become Trenton was established by Quakers in 1679, in the called the Falls of the Delaware, led by Mahlon Stacy from Handsworth, Sheffield. Quakers were being persecuted in England at this time and North America provided an opportunity to exercise their religious freedom, by 1719, the town adopted the name Trent-towne, after William Trent, one of its leading landholders who purchased much of the surrounding land from Stacys family. This name was shortened to Trenton, during the American Revolutionary War, the city was the site of the Battle of Trenton, George Washingtons first military victory. On December 26,1776, Washington and his army, after crossing the icy Delaware River to Trenton, after the war, the Confederation Congress briefly met in Trenton in November and December 1784. Trenton became the capital in 1790, but prior to that year the New Jersey Legislature often met here. The city was incorporated in 1792, during the War of 1812, the United States Armys primary hospital was at a site on Broad Street.
Throughout the 19th century, Trenton grew steadily, as European immigrants came to work in its pottery, in 1837, with the population now too large for government by council, a new mayoral government was adopted, with by-laws that remain in operation to this day. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had an area of 8.155 square miles. Trenton is located near the geographic center of the state. However, Mercer County constitutes its own metropolitan area, formally known as the Trenton-Ewing MSA. Locals consider Trenton to be a part of an area called Central Jersey
United States
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power.
The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations.
In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
Sussex County, New Jersey
Sussex County is the northernmost county in the State of New Jersey. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, as of the 2016 Census estimate, the countys population was 142,522, making it the 17th-most populous of the states 21 counties, a 4. Based on 2010 Census data, Vernon Township was the countys largest in population and area, with a population of 23,943 and covering an area of 70.59 square miles. As of 2010 The Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the county as having the 131st-highest per capita income of the 3,113 counties in the United States, the county was established in 1753 and named after historic County Sussex, England. Because of its topography, Sussex County has remained a relatively rural, the county is part of the Skylands Region, a term promoted by the New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth, & Tourism Commission to encourage tourism. In the western half of the county, several state and federal parks have kept the large tracts of land undeveloped, the eastern half of the county has had more suburban development because of its proximity to more populated areas and commercial development zones.
Until the mid-20th century, most of Sussex Countys economy was based on agriculture, with the decline of these industries in the 1960s, Sussex County was transformed into a bedroom community that absorbed population shifts from New Jerseys urban areas. Recent studies estimate that 60 percent of Sussex County residents work outside of the county, the area of Sussex County and its surrounding region was occupied for approximately 8, 000-13,000 years by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. At the time of European encounter, the Munsee Indians inhabited the region, the Munsee were a loosely organized division of the Lenape, a Native American people called Delaware Indians after their historic territory along the Delaware River. The Lenape inhabited the coastal areas and inland along the Hudson. As early as 1690, Dutch and French Huguenot colonists from towns along the Hudson River Valley in New York began permanently settling in the Upper Delaware Valley. The route these Dutch settlers had taken was the path of an old Indian trail and became the route of the Old Mine Road and stretches of present-date U. S.
Route 209. These Dutch settlers penetrated the Minisink Valley and settled as far south as the Delaware Water Gap, throughout the 18th century, immigrants from the Rheinland Palatinate in Germany and Switzerland fled religious wars and poverty to arrive in Philadelphia and New York City. By this time, four large townships had been created in this sparsely populated Northwestern region, Walpack Township, Greenwich Township, Hardwick Township and Newtown Township. On June 8,1753, Sussex County was created from four municipalities. On November 20,1824, Warren County was created from the territory of the Sussex County. Throughout the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, Sussex Countys economy was centered around agriculture. Early settlers established farms whose operations were focused towards subsistence agriculture
Bicameralism
A bicameral legislature is one in which the legislators are divided into two separate assemblies, chambers or houses. As of 2015, somewhat less than half of the national legislatures are bicameral. Often, the members of the two chambers are elected or selected using different methods, which vary from country to country and this can often lead to the two chambers having very different compositions of members. However, in many Westminster system parliaments, the house to which the executive is responsible can overrule the other house, some legislatures lie in between these two positions, with one house only able to overrule the other under certain circumstances. For example, one house would represent the aristocracy, and the other would represent the commoners as was the case in the Kingdom of England. Others, such as France under the Ancien Régime had a legislature known as the Estates General, which consisted of separate chambers for the clergymen, the nobility. The Founding Fathers of the United States favoured a bicameral legislature, the idea was to have the Senate be wealthier and wiser.
Benjamin Rush saw this though, and noted that, this type of dominion is almost always connected with opulence, the Senate was created to be a stabilising force, elected not by mass electors, but selected by the State legislators. Senators would be more knowledgeable and more sort of republican nobility—and a counter to what Madison saw as the fickleness. He noted further that the use of the Senate is to consist in its proceeding with more coolness, with system and with more wisdom. Madisons argument led the Framers to grant the Senate prerogatives in foreign policy, an area where steadiness, the Senate was chosen by state legislators, and senators had to possess a significant amount of property in order to be deemed worthy and sensible enough for the position. In fact, it was not until the year 1913 that the 17th Amendment was passed, as part of the Great Compromise, they invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the Senate would have states represented equally, and the House would have them represented by population.
Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British three-tier model, the older justification for second chambers—providing opportunities for second thoughts about legislation—has survived. An example of controversy regarding a second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the Canadian Senate or the election of the Senate of France. The relationship between the two chambers varies, in cases, they have equal power, while in others. The first tends to be the case in federal systems and those with presidential governments, the latter tends to be the case in unitary states with parliamentary systems. In the United States both houses of the U. S and this is due to their original location in the two-story building that was to house them. In Canada, the country as a whole is divided into a number of Senate Divisions, each with a different number of Senators, Senators in Canada are not elected by the people but are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister
Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon
From the age of nine, after his fathers second marriage to the heiress Flower Backhouse, Edward Hyde lived at Swallowfield Park in Berkshire. He studied at Oxford, matriculating on 23 January 1675, a month after his father succeeded as 2nd Earl of Clarendon and he joined the Royal Regiment of Dragoons before being elected as a Tory Member of Parliament for Wiltshire from 1685–1696 and for Christchurch 1695–1701. He was Master of the Horse to Prince George of Denmark, and he was one of the first commanders to desert the King in 1688, taking with him as many troops as he could. Lady Cornbury died in New York on 11 August 1706 and is buried at Trinity Church, as Lord Cornbury, he became Governor of New York and New Jersey from 1701 to 1708. In 1707 the governor ordered prosecution of Rev. Francis Makemie, leader of the first Presbyterian synod in the new country and it is said that the governors character and conduct were equally abhorred in both hemispheres. Lord Clarendon was imprisoned for debt at the time of his fathers death and he was Envoy Extraordinary to Hanover in 1714.
Lord Clarendon died at Chelsea in obscurity and in debt and was buried on 5 April 1723 in Westminster Abbey, Viscount Cornbury came to be fabled in historical literature as a moral profligate, sunk in corruption, possibly the worst governor Britain ever appointed to an American colony. The early accounts claim he took bribes and plundered the public treasury, nineteenth century historian George Bancroft said that Cornbury illustrated the worst form of the English aristocracys arrogance, joined to intellectual imbecility. Later historians characterise him as a degenerate and pervert who is said to have spent half of his time dressed in clothes, a fop. Cornbury is reported to have opened the 1702 New York Assembly clad in a hooped gown, when his choice of clothing was questioned, he replied, You are all very stupid people not to see the propriety of it all. In this place and occasion, I represent a woman, and it is said that in August 1707, when his wife Lady Cornbury died, His High Mightiness attended the funeral dressed as a woman.
It was shortly after this that mounting complaints from colonists prompted The Queen to remove Cornbury from office, bonomi re-examined these assertions and found them to be questionable and based on very little evidence. Three colonials, all members of a faction opposed to Cornbury, there are some early documents that might be cited to support charges of having taken bribes or misappropriated government funds, but there the contemporary evidence ends. A portrait possibly of Lord Cornbury dressed in clothes which hangs at the New-York Historical Society. The title of the painting at the New-York Historical Society is Portrait of an Unidentified Woman, the Philip Davenport-Hines, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, thinks the portrait accurately depicts Cornbury and pronounced Bonomis findings inconclusive. Joseph Papp produced and Holland directed, with Joseph Maher in the role of Cornbury, the play was revived in 2009 at the Hudson Guild Theater under the direction of Tim Cusack. He makes appearances in Edward Rutherfurds historical saga novel New York, in Daniel Pinkwaters The Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl, list of deserters from James II to William of Orange Did New York once have a transvestite governor.
Royal Berkshire History, Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon
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