draft a new constitution to replace the 1663 Royal Charter. The convention, held as a response to the Dorr Rebellion, debated questions of expansion of citizenship and suffrage. Prior to 1842, the vote was held only by a small minority of rural elite landowners. By November 1842, a new Constitution was put before the voters of the state. The new Constitution, which passed 7024 to 51, expanded the vote to include African-Americans, becoming the first state to do so. But it also contained a $134 suffrage qualification to block the vote from naturalized citizens. 19th century The occupation of Newport had forced the colonists to establish their capital at Providence, and it remained there after independence. But the state legislature continued to meet in Newport every other year, and one day each May known as 'Lection Day. After the ceremonial meeting, results of the state's April elections would be announced, and the winners inaugurated on the spot. It was Newport's most important holiday for many years. In 1900, with Rhode Island's current capitol building mostly complete, the legislature ended its tradition of alternating sessions between the state's two largest cities. It subsequently became the Newport County courthouse. 20th century It continued to serve as the courthouse until 1926. Afterwards, it and the other two future NHLs nearby were the first three historic nearby buildings renovated by Norman Isham at the behest of the Newport Historical Society. That work was completed in 1932. In 1957, the building received its first sitting American president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. In a short speech from the steps, he began a two-day visit to the city and its historic sites by praising the city's hospitality and expressing regret that his wife, who had accompanied him from Washington, could not join him at the building. "It is her great ambition to visit so many of these places," he said, "particularly those where the heroes of the Revolutionary times spent so much of their time." His administration its last year designated the building one of the first National Historic Landmarks in 1960. Six years after that, it was duly listed on the inaugural National Register of Historic Places. Newport's well-preserved historic character drew Steven Spielberg to the city in 1997, where it stood in for mid-19th century New Haven, Connecticut, during principal photography for Amistad. Colony House's exterior can be seen in the background in a few scenes,