Background
On June 15, 1776, at the urging of Patriot leader Thomas McKean the General Assembly "suspended government under the Crown", effectively ending the Proprietary government in the Lower Counties, as Delaware was then known. After the passage of the United States Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly met in July 1776 and enacted legislation calling for the August 1776 election of a State Constitutional Convention. There were to be ten members from each County.
The convention met in New Castle, Delaware on August 27, 1776. George Read was elected its President and Thomas McKean was a major contributor to the content of the finished product. The writing was quickly finished and put into effect upon its adoption September 20, 1776 by the convention, less than a month later. It was never submitted for popular approval and was the first state constitution written by a convention elected for that purpose subsequent to the Declaration of Independence.
The members of the convention were generally moderates or conservatives who sought to keep the government as close to the existing one as possible. The major change was the replacement of the Proprietary Governor with an Executive Privy Council, chaired by a President. A second house of the Legislature was created as well. Both measures were meant to restrict the perceived arbitrary exercise of executive authority.
The first independent General Assembly was elected and convened in October of 1776, and elected the Privy Council and its President in January 1777.
Read more about this topic: Delaware Constitution Of 1776
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