Thomas Wilson Dorr Signed January 20th 1841 Democratic Republican Convention Proceedings Document.

DORR, Thomas W.

$1,800.00

Item Number: 142568

Rare manuscript copy of the proceedings of the January 20th 1841 Democratic Republican Convention, signed by Chairman Thomas W. Dorr. Octavo, one page, the document reads, “Resolutions. Resolved, That the members of the Convention must cordially concur in the strong recommendations of William Ennis for the post of paymaster in the Army, or purser in the Navy which have been presented by many distinguished citizens of this and other states; and they assure the President, that this appointment is most earnestly desired by the Convention, would by very generally acceptable to our citizens, and particularly gratifying to the friends of the President in Rhode Island. Resolved, That the chairman of the Convention be requested to transmit a copy of the preceding resolution to the President of the United States. The above Resolutions were unanimously adopted by the Democratic Republican Convention of this State, held at the State – House in Providence on the evening of January  20th 1841. AA copy from the proceedings of the Convention. Attest. Thomas W. Dorr Chairman.” Rhode Island reformer Thomas Dorr remains best known for leading the Dorr Rebellion, an attempt by disenfranchised residents to force broader democracy in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, where a small rural elite was in control of government. The rebellion ultimately established a parallel government alongside the existing chartered government and wrote a new constitution for Rhode Island. Although the rebellion was crushed militarily, it forced the rewriting of the state constitution to expand eligibility to vote. In near fine condition.

Early American colonists associated democracy with disorder and mob rule, and believed that the vote should be restricted to those who owned property or paid taxes. The transition from property qualifications to universal white manhood suffrage occurred gradually, without violence and with little dissension, except in the state of Rhode Island, where lack of progress toward democratization provoked an episode known as the Dorr War. In 1841, Thomas W. Dorr, a Rhode Island-born Harvard-educated attorney, organized an extralegal convention to frame a new state constitution that would abolish voting restrictions. The state’s governor declared Dorr and his supporters guilty of insurrection, proclaimed a state of emergency, and called out the state militia. Dorr tried unsuccessfully to capture the state arsenal at Providence and was soon arrested, found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labor. To appease popular resentment, the governor pardoned Dorr the next year, and the state adopted a new constitution in 1843. This constitution extended the vote to all taxpaying native-born adult males, including African Americans, but imposed property requirements and lengthy residence requirements on immigrants.