Pennsylvania wasn’t the first state to enact a new constititution, nor was it the first to start with an enumeration of people’s rights.

What it did have was provision for a unicameral legistlative body, which was unusual at the time. The main goal of this new constitution was not only to limit but to completely prevent the creation of an aristocracy. Specifically, it was based on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. It played a major role in the writing of this constitution, and its influence can be seen in several passages or phrases, specifically the ones referring to “liberty” and “the people’s government”.

In addition, it expanded voting rights to all men who paid property taxes in the past year, meaning that freed slaves could conceivably vote in Pennsylvania. Slaves were still considered property in the southern states (naturally) and even in most of the northern states, regardless of the specific practices involving slavery at that point.

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