Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776
The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 was the state's first constitution following its declaration of independence and has been described as the most democratic in America. It was drafted by Robert Whitehill, Timothy Matlack, Dr. Thomas Young, George Bryan, James Cannon, and Benjamin Franklin. Pennsylvania's innovative and highly democratic government structure, featuring a unicameral legislature and collective executive, may have influenced the later French Republic's formation under the French Constitution of 1793. The constitution also included a declaration of rights that coincided with the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776.
Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776
Pennsylvania Provincial Conference
The Pennsylvania Provincial Conference, officially the Provincial Conference of Committees of the Province of Pennsylvania, was a Provincial Congress held June 18–25, 1776 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. The 97 delegates in attendance involved themselves in issues relating to declaring Pennsylvania's support for independence and to planning for a subsequent gathering that would develop Pennsylvania's new Frame of Government. They achieved these objectives by formally:Declaring Pennsylvania's independence from the British Empire, thus birthing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
Mobilizing the Pennsylvania militia for the American Revolutionary War,
Organizing elections to select delegates to a constitutional convention – which framed the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776.
Pennsylvania Provincial Conference