The General Assembly of New York, commonly known internationally as the New York General Assembly, and domestically simply as General Assembly, was the supreme

legislative body A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

of the

Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...

during its period of proprietal colonialship and the legislative body of the Province during its period as a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

. It was the representative governing body in New York until April 3, 1775, when the Assembly disbanded after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.

Background

The New York General Assembly was first convened on October 17, 1683, during the governorship of

Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715) was an Irish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New York from 1683 to 1688. He called the first representative legislature in the Province ...

, which passed an act entitled " A Charter of Liberties" that decreed that the supreme legislative power under the Duke of York (later King James II) shall reside in a

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, and the people convened in general assembly; conferred upon the members of the assembly rights and privileges making them a body coequal to and independent of the

English Parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised th ...

; established town, county, and general courts of justice; solemnly proclaimed the right of religious liberty; and passed acts enunciating certain constitutional liberties, e.g. taxes could be levied only by the people met in general assembly; right of suffrage; and no martial law or quartering of the soldiers without the consent of the inhabitants.Driscoll, John T. "Thomas Dongan." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 Jun. 2014
/ref> The Assembly grew to twenty-seven members, elected by ''

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

'' by the people once every seven years and the districts they represented. The representatives terms were originally at the will of the

and new elections were ordered as it suited his interests. A law was passed that limited member's terms to three years, but it was annulled by King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. The Septennial Act was passed in 1743, and remained in force till the revolution. The General Assembly elected a speaker from their own ranks, chose their own clerk, and published their own journal. The Assembly had the sole right of originating all laws granting appropriations of money, and, during Governor

William Cosby Brigadier-General William Cosby (1690 – 10 March 1736) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New York from 1732 to 1736. During his short tenure as governor, Cosby was portrayed as one of the mos ...

's administration, which was defined by political struggles and is known as one of the most oppressive royal placeholders, they withheld his compensation in an attempt to bring him closer to their desires. Reportedly, "these quarrels had considerably subsided before the revolution; but they doubtless had an influence beneficial to liberty, by introducing political discussions, and imparting a knowledge of the tendencies of irresponsible power." The General Assembly continued until May 1775. Among its last acts was the adoption of petitions to the king and

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a ...

, in which, while they "professed a warm attachment to the royal person and government, they solemnly protested against the aggressions that had for years been gaining upon the rights of the people, and expressed, quite as strongly as was then avowed by the patriots of the day, the sentiments advocated in the revolution."

General Assembly

Districts

* Albany County: all of the region that is now northern and

western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

. *

Cortlandt Manor Cortlandt Manor is a hamlet (New York), hamlet—an unincorporated section—of the Cortlandt, New York, town of Cortlandt in northern Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, roughly surrounding Peekskil ...

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

: now Dutchess and Putnam counties. * Kings County: the current Kings County; Brooklyn. *

Livingston Manor Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. Located between the Hudson River and the Massachusetts border, the Livingston Manor was locate ...

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

: the current New York County; Manhattan. * Orange County: now Orange and Rockland counties. * Queens County: now Queens and Nassau counties. * Rensselaer Manor * Richmond County: the current Richmond County;

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

. * Town of Schenectady * Suffolk County: the current Suffolk County. *

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...

: now Ulster and Sullivan counties and part of what is now Delaware and Greene counties. *

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

: now Westchester and

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

counties.

Representatives

The following were elected as members of the General Assembly.

References

;Notes ;Sources {{authority control Colonial United States (British) Province of New York 1683 establishments in the Province of New York Pre-statehood history of New York (state) Legislatures of the Thirteen Colonies