Introduction
The record of the 1850 New Hampshire constitutional convention somehow went missing with no explanation until it was discovered in the state archives in 1980. After it was discovered, the convention record was organized and published in 2005. The state Supreme Court did not have this all-important document when it decided the Claremont decision. It should be obvious to all who read the summary that the outcome of that court decision quite likely would have been completely different had they been made aware that this document existed. I’ve prepared the following key points in a summary of the education arguments proposed in 1850.
The 1850 New Hampshire Constitutional Convention
The Intent: Attempting a State Takeover of Free Common Schools – and Why It Failed
I. Historical Context and Core Purpose
In 1850, New Hampshire convened a constitutional convention to revise its 1784 Constitution. A primary goal was to centralize and modernize public education by converting the existing local “common schools,” typically community-supported institutions grounded in morality, piety, and evangelical principles, into a state-funded, state-supervised system of free public schools supported by compulsory taxation.
Under the original 1784 Constitution:
- Part I, Article 6 (Bill of Rights) empowered the legislature to authorize towns, parishes, or religious societies to support Protestant teachers of piety, religion, and morality “at their own expense.” This tied public support to evangelical Protestant principles but did not mandate statewide compulsory taxation for education or religion.
- Part I, Article 4 protected the unalienable right of conscience, ensuring no one could be compelled to support religious instruction contrary to their beliefs.
- Part I, Article 12 stated that while individuals must contribute their share for the protection of life, liberty, and property, “no part of a man’s property shall be taken from him, or applied to public uses, without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people.”
- Part I, Article 28 reinforced that “no subsidy, charge, tax, impost or duty shall be established, fixed, laid, or levied… without the consent of the people, or their representatives in the legislature.”
These provisions collectively prohibited compulsory taxation without the consent of the people, requiring a constitutional amendment as mandated by the N.H. Const. Part I, Articles 12 and 28, and Part II, Articles 99 and 100. They also preserved voluntary and local mechanisms for supporting schools and religion. No statewide mandatory tax for common schools existed under the 1784 framework.
The Toleration Act of 1819 further advanced religious liberty by ending mandatory town-level taxation for Congregational (Protestant) ministry support. It allowed religious sects to form societies and tax only their own voluntary members, while prohibiting compelled support for other denominations. This brought New Hampshire into practical compliance with the spirit of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (no establishment of religion), by eliminating state-enforced religious taxation and promoting denominational equality, preventing any form of religion from being established or supported at general taxpayer expense.
The 1850 convention delegates were clearly aware of these taxing prohibitions (Articles 12 and 28) and the voluntary/local nature of prior support. To impose a compulsory tax for free common schools, they needed a constitutional amendment, precisely what they proposed.
Voters were asked (Page 345, Question 11th):
“Do you approve of the amendment requiring the election of a Superintendent of Public Instruction, as provided in the amended Constitution?”
This encapsulated the push for state control, but …the voters rejected the amendment.
II. The Five Core Elements of the Proposal
The convention proposed five key changes to enable state takeover:
- State-mandated compulsory funding for free common schools via taxpayer expense (overriding voluntary/local support).
- Establishment of a statewide elected Superintendent of Public Instruction.
- Amendment of Part I, Article 6 to secularize language (removing evangelical/Protestant ties).
- Elevation of education to a constitutional right by relocating and rewriting former Part II, Article 83 into the Bill of Rights.
- Insertion of a mandatory minimum tax into Part II, Article 89 (formerly Art. 83), requiring towns to raise at least $125 per $1 of state tax apportioned, creating the first constitutional compulsory tax for schools.
III. The Constitutional Changes – How They Planned It
1. Secularization of Part I, Article 6 – Pages 58–60
Delegates proposed the removal of sectarian references:
- “Evangelical principles” → “the principles of the Bible”
- Eliminated “Protestant,” “denomination of Christians,” and local/parish exclusivity.
Intent: Shift from religiously grounded local schools to a neutral, state-directed system.
2. Relocating Former Part II, Article 83 to the Bill of Rights
Education was reframed from legislative encouragement to a constitutional right.
3. Compulsory Tax Mandate – New Part II, Article 89 – Page 408
Required annual collection of a minimum tax tied to state apportionment, applied exclusively to schools directly circumventing the prior prohibitions in Articles 12 and 28 by embedding compulsion in the Constitution itself.
4. State Superintendent – Pages 191, 408 (New Articles 90–91)
Created an elected statewide officer to supervise public instruction.
IV. The Committee’s Rationale
Page 54: (Education Committee): Popular education was essential to republican institutions deemed self-evident.
Page 53: Resolved: The legislature “is authorized and required” to establish and fund the system.
V. Chief Objection and Voter Rejection
Page 56: “The chief objection… is made to the expense of the measure proposed. ‘The people, it is said, will not consent to be thus taxed.’”
Delegates acknowledged resistance to compulsory taxation but viewed it as necessary. Voters, however, rejected the proposal, preserving the 1784 framework’s voluntary/local elements, conscience protections, and ban on compelled taxation without explicit consent. The defeat maintained opposition to statewide mandatory taxes for education and upheld the post-1819 separation from religious establishment at public expense.
VI. Summary – The Intent and Its Defeat
The 1850 convention sought a fundamental shift:
- From local, voluntary, evangelical-grounded schools → to state-controlled, taxpayer-funded free common schools.
- From no compulsory statewide tax (prohibited by Articles 12 and 28, reinforced by 1819 Toleration Act compliance with First Amendment principles) → to a constitutional compulsory tax mandate.
- From religious/moral local control → to secularized central oversight.
Aware of existing prohibitions, delegates engineered amendments to enable compulsion. Voters rejected it, prioritizing local control, voluntary funding, conscience rights, and resistance to new mandatory taxation.
Key takeaway for voters today:
The 1850 effort reflected emerging views that republics require uniform, state-directed education funded by compulsory taxes. But in 1850, New Hampshire voters upheld their tradition of decentralized, non-compulsory support, rooted in 1784 protections and 1819 religious toleration, over centralized state intervention.
The good news is that this proposed amendment failed; the bad news is that the aforesaid proposed amendment was statutorily and incrementally forced upon the people of this State—an immoral education agenda without the consent of the people!
