New York State Secretary of State Second Constitution of the State of New York

The Constitution of 1821 was framed and adopted by a Convention of Delegates which met in Albany from August 28 to November 10, 1821. It was ratified by the voters at a special election held January 15-17, 1822, and took effect December 31, 1822. It is attested by Daniel D. Tompkins, president, and John F. Bacon and Samuel S. Gardiner, Secretaries, and certified as delivered to the office of the Secretary of State by J.V.N. Yates. At the end are the signatures of the delegates. The Constitution of 1777 contained no provision for amendment or replacement, and the Convention of 1821 was called pursuant to legislation of 1821 (Chapter 90) and the vote of the people in a general election held April 1821.

Published in "Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1821..." (1821); "New York State Constitution Annotated," (1938); "The Constitutional History of New York," (Charles Z. Lincoln, 1906); and other sources.

High resolution images of the original documents that comprise this series are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

This item was part of the Freedom Train exhibit that traveled the state from January 1949 to February 1950 (Laws of 1948, Chapter 659).

Access to original records is restricted: digitized and published versions are first-use copies.