The speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives is the highest official in the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

History

From 1663 until 1842,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

's governing state constitution was its original

colonial charter A charter is a document that gives colonies the legal rights to exist. Charters can bestow certain rights on a town, city, university, or other institution. Colonial charters were approved when the king gave a grant of exclusive powers for the ...

granted by

King Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

, a political anomaly considering that while most states during the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

and afterwards wrote scores of new constitutions with their newly found independence in mind, Rhode Island instead continued with a document stamped by an English king. By the 1840s, Rhode Island was the only state whose official legal document was passed by a foreign monarch and the document essentially restricted voting rights to a very small population of elite, rural, landowning native-born white males. In September 1842, a Constitutional Convention was held at the Colony House in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

to confront the issue of expanding suffrage. When the constitution was put to a public vote in November 1842, voters rejected that voting rights should be restricted to whites only by a three to one margin, thus making Rhode Island the first state to grant suffrage to African-Americans. The new constitution was ratified and the constitution became effective in May 1843.Rhode Island 1663 charter
(accessed August 20, 2010)

Selection

The

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House Resolution. As well as presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation.

List of speakers

Colonial period

Note:

Revolutionary War to Present

References

;Notes ;Sources {{Reflist, 30em