Tennessee Constitution

Tennessee Constitution
Preamble
Articles
	I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • Schedule

The Tennessee Constitution is state constitution of Tennessee.

The current Tennessee Constitution was adopted in 1870.
Tennessee has had three state constitutions.
The current state constitution has 11 articles.
The current Tennessee Constitution has been amended 11 times since 2006.
Voters last approved four amendments to the Tennessee Constitution on November 8, 2022.

A state constitution is the fundamental document that outlines a state's framework for governance, including the powers, structure, and limitations of the state government, individual and civil rights, and other matters.

Background

Tennessee's current constitution was written after the Civil War in 1870. The original state constitution came into effect on June 1, 1796 concurrent with the state's admission to the Union. Tennessee's current constitution is its third constitution. Previous constitutions were written in 1796 and 1834. Unlike the latter two, the original was never submitted to the voters but rather approved by Congress in conjunction with the resolution admitting Tennessee as a state.^[1]

In 1796, a constitutional convention met in Knoxville, Tennessee to start constructing a constitution for the 16th state. Congress required a constitution before it would grant statehood. The state constitution was based on the United States Constitution.^[1]

Preamble

See also: Preamble, Tennessee Constitution and Preambles to state constitutions

The Tennessee Constitution's preamble is longer than its counterpart in the United States Constitution. Much of that length is devoted to justifying the authority behind the new constitution — that the new constitution was created under the authority of the constitution of 1835 and was itself created under the authority of the original 1796 convention.

The preamble to the Tennessee Constitution states:

Whereas, The people of the territory of the United States south of the river Ohio, having the right of admission into the general government as a member state thereof, consistent with the Constitution of the United States, and the act of cession of the state of North Carolina, recognizing the ordinance for the government of the territory—of the United States north west of the Ohio River, by their delegates and representatives in convention assembled, did on the sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety six, ordain and establish a Constitution, or form of government, and mutually agreed with each other to form themselves into a free and independent state by the name of the state of Tennessee, and, Whereas, The General Assembly of the said state of Tennessee, (pursuant to the third section of the tenth article of the Constitution,) by an act passed on the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, entitled, “An Act” to provide for the calling of a convention, passed in obedience to the declared will of the voters of the state, as expressed at the general election of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, did authorize and provide for the election by the people of delegates and representatives, to meet at Nashville, in Davidson County, on the third Monday in May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, for the purpose of revising and amending, or changing, the Constitution, and said convention did accordingly meet and form a Constitution which was submitted to the people, and was ratified by them, on the first Friday in March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, and, Whereas, The General Assembly of said state of Tennessee, under and in virtue of the first section of the first article of the Declaration of Rights, contained in and forming a part of the existing Constitution of the state, by an act passed on the fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, did provide for the calling of a convention by the people of the state, to meet at Nashville, on the second Monday in January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy, and for the election of delegates for the purpose of amending or revising the present Constitution, or forming and making a new Constitution; and, Whereas, The people of the state, in the mode provided by said Act, have called said convention, and elected delegates to represent them therein; now therefore, We, the delegates and representatives of the people of the state of Tennessee, duly elected, and in convention assembled, in pursuance of said act of Assembly have ordained and established the following Constitution and form of government for this state, which we recommend to the people of Tennessee for their ratification: That is to say^[2]

Article I: Declaration of Rights

See also: Article I, Tennessee Constitution

Article I of the Tennessee Constitution is entitled "Declaration of Rights" and consists of 36 sections. It is considered Tennessee's Bill of Rights and copies verbatim many of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights, although the provisions describing them are generally lengthier than those of the United States Constitution.