The Maryland Constitution of 1851 was the second constitution of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

following the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, replacing the Constitution of 1776. The primary reason for the new constitution was a need to re-apportion Maryland's legislature, the

Maryland General Assembly The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives, and the lower ...

. It also permitted a change in the status of the City of Baltimore (designated as a "port of entry" in 1706, chartered as a town in 1729, incorporated in 1796–97, and county seat since 1768) and its relationship with the surrounding

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Baltimore County partly surrounds but does not include the independent city ...

(which was erected in 1659). By the provisions of this 1851 Constitution, Baltimore City was to be separated and given the status of the other (soon-to-be) 23 counties of the State, with a provision of "home rule", which was later extended in 1923. By 1854, Baltimore County by election of its voters had moved its county seat and courts to Towsontown, north of the city and began building a new

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

. However, there were several critiques of the Constitution of 1851, especially in changes in how the judiciary functioned which allowed for gaps in judiciary oversight. These critiques led to the relatively rapid adoption of a new Constitution of 1864.

References

1851 in American law Defunct state constitutions of the United States Maryland law Legal history of Maryland 1851 in Maryland {{US-gov-stub