New York State Secretary of State Third Constitution of the State of New York

The Constitution of 1846 was framed and adopted by a Convention of Delegates which met in Albany from June 1 to October 9, 1846. It was ratified by the voters on November 3, 1846. The Convention was called pursuant to Chapter 252 of the Laws of 1845 and Chapter 94 of the Laws 1846.

The text of the Constitution is engrossed on parchment folios, unbound. At the end are the signatures of the officers and delegates of the Convention. Accompanying the text of the Constitution are resolutions of the Convention dated May 13, 1846, and an address by the delegates to the people of the state, dated October 9, 1846 recommending the new Constitution to the people.

This constitution abolished all remnants of feudal practice and oligarchical government. All white men 21 years of age or older could vote whether they owned property or not, confirming the amendment of 1826 (to the Constitution of 1821). This constitution became a model for Wisconsin and several other mid-western states.

Published in "Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Convention for the Revision of the Constitution of the State of New York, 1846" (1846); "Documents of the Convention..." (1846); "New York State Constitution Annotated" (1938); 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 (L. 1948, Ch. 659).

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