CHAPTER II

IMPULSES TOWARD STATE GOVERNMENT COME FROM CONTINENTAL
CONGRESS----CHAOTIC CONDITIONS AT OUTBREAK OF REVOLU¬
TION,  AND FORMATION  OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS IN  THE

COLONIES----THE THIRD PROVINCIAL CONGRESS OF NEW YORK----

THE FOURTH PROVINCIAL CONGRESS^ OR FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL

CONVENTION----THE WORK OF THE CONVENTION, THE COUNCIL

OF APPOINTMENT, THE COUNCIL OF REVISION, THE JUDICIARY,
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY----OTHER FEATURES OF THE CONSTITU¬
TION----ITS  SIMPLICITY----EARLY GOVERNMENT  IN  THE INFANT

STATE----NEW YORK ACCEPTS THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

----THE   ACTION   OF   THE   STATE   LEGISLATURE,   ULTRA   VIRES----

RATIFICATION     OF    THE     FEDERAL     CONSTITUTION----REVISION

OF     THE     LAWS----NEW    YORK    CEDES    HER    LANDS    IN    THE

WEST----THE   PRACTICE  OF  LAW----UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT   BY

BURR TO ABOLISH  SLAVERY—BEGINNINGS OF EDUCATION.

That union of some sort among the colonies preceded the
independent existence of any State, seems the plain teaching of
history. "The irrepressible tendency toward union", as Judge
Jameson has termed it, is perceptible as far back as 1643. It
gathered additional momentum in 1748 and 1754. It received a
powerful re-enforcement when the Stamp Act Congress assem¬
bled in 1765. It became the sentiment of all the colonies when
the First Continental Congress met at Philadelphia in 1774 to
memorialize the king, for its petition, as has been observed,
studiously ignored Parliament as a body having no jurisdiction in
America.    The sentiment for union gained strength  from the