pardons for all offenses except treason and impeachment. The order of succession has the lieutenant governor first in line, and then the temporary president of the Senate. Article V: Officers and Civil Departments Article V describes the roles of the comptroller and attorney-general as well as the operation of the civil departments, of which there can be at most 20. Article VI: Judiciary Article VI describes the judicial branch, including the court systems, the operation of trials, and the conditions for appointing and removing judges and justices. It contains 37 sections, more than any other article. Article VII: State Finances Article VIII: Local Finances Article IX: Local Governments Article X: Corporations Article XI: Education Article XII: Defense Article XIII: Public Officers Article XIV: Conservation Article XV: Canals Article XVI: Taxation Article XVII: Social Welfare Article XVIII: Housing Article XIX: Amendments to Constitution Article XX: When to Take Effect Article XX describes the day that the constitution will take effect, which is January 1, 1939. Constitution of New York, 1777 The Fourth New York Provincial Congress, resolving itself as the Convention of Representatives of the State of New York, adopted the first constitution of the state of New York on April 20, 1777. The Province of New York was established after the naval invasion and absorption of the previous Dutch Colony of New Netherlands. The original proprietor was the Duke of York, the future James II of England and James VII of Scotland and younger brother of the then-King of England, Charles II. Its Colonial Charter was under authority from the Monarch, (the King or Queen of Great Britain) of the Kingdom of England and later of Great Britain, after the Act of Union of 1707 which united England and Wales and the formerly independent kingdom of Scotland The First Constitution of 1777, which replaced this Colonial Charter with its royal authority, for the newly independent "State of New York" was framed by a Convention which assembled at White Plains, New York, (just north of New York City) on Sunday evening, July 10, 1776. The city was then threatened with a British occupation by an invading British Army landing on Staten Island. There were repeated adjournments and changes of location, caused by the increasingly desperate war situation, with General George Washington's ragged Continental Army, forced out of New York City by crushing defeats in the New York and New Jersey campaign.