National Assembly (Iceland)
The National Assembly of 1851 (Icelandic Þjóðfundurinn 1851) was a constitutional convention called to decide the political status of Iceland. The assembly was called in 1848, in the liberal atmosphere following the Spring of Nations. But in 1851, when the assembly finally met, the political tide had turned and conservative forces had regained strength.
The Danes presented a bill to the assembly which would have made the Danish Constitution of 1849 valid in Iceland with an exception concerning the legislative power. Iceland was to get six seats in the Danish Parliament. The delegates prepared an alternative bill, proposing a constitution for a practically independent Iceland in personal union with the Danish king.
Seeing that the delegates would never agree to the Danish bill and believing them to have no authority to discuss the alternative bill, Governor Trampe decided to dissolve the Assembly. At that point Jón Sigurðsson rose to protest, saying:
- And I protest in the name of the King and the people against this procedure, and I reserve for the Assembly the right to complain to the King about this act of illegality.
The official record of the meeting goes on to say: "Then the members of the Assembly rose and most of them said as if with one voice:
- We all protest!"
The constitutional status of Iceland was to remain an unresolved issue for decades to come.
Read more about National Assembly (Iceland): The National Assemblies or Forums of 2009 and 2010, The Constitutional Assembly of 2010, See Also, References
Famous quotes containing the words national and/or assembly:
“Maybe it’s understandable what a history of failures America’s foreign policy has been. We are, after all, a country full of people who came to America to get away from foreigners. Any prolonged examination of the U.S. government reveals foreign policy to be America’s miniature schnauzer—a noisy but small and useless part of the national household.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)
“That man is to be pitied who cannot enjoy social intercourse without eating and drinking. The lowest orders, it is true, cannot imagine a cheerful assembly without the attractions of the table, and this reflection alone should induce all who aim at intellectual culture to endeavor to avoid placing the choicest phases of social life on such a basis.”
—Mrs. H. O. Ward (1824–1899)