Everything about Act Of Consolidation 1854 totally explained
The
Act of Consolidation, passed on
February 2,
1854 in the
U.S. city of
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, consolidated all remaining
townships,
districts, and
boroughs within the
County of Philadelphia, dissolving their governmental structures and bringing all municipal authority within the county under the auspices of the Philadelphia government. Additionally, any other
unincorporated communities were included in the consolidation. The consolidation was drafted to help combat lawlessness that the many local governments couldn't handle separately and to bring in much-needed tax revenue for the city.
The passage of the act gave the city and the county the same borders, that is, it made the two entities coterminous. This situation is shared by the city and counties of
Denver, Colorado,
San Francisco, California,
Indianapolis, Indiana,
Louisville, Kentucky, and
Nashville, Tennessee. Though both city and county co-exist as legal entities, most governing functions are in the hands of the city government. One notable exception is that the county has a sheriff's department, though its duties are limited and subordinate to the
Philadelphia Police Department.
Background and reasons
In early 1854, the city of Philadelphia's boundaries extended east and west between the
Delaware and
Schuylkill Rivers and north and south between Vine and
South Streets. The rest of
Philadelphia County contained thirteen
townships, six
boroughs and nine
districts. Philadelphia's recent influx of immigrants spilled over into the rest of Philadelphia County surging the areas population. In 1840, Philadelphia's population was 93,665 and the rest of the county was 164,372, by 1850 the populations were 121,376 and 287,385 respectively.
One of the major reasons put forth for the consolidation of the city was the county's inability to govern. Law enforcement found it difficult to enforce the peace. A person could break the law in Philadelphia and quickly cross the border and escape punishment. Districts outside Philadelphia couldn't control their criminal elements and at the same time refused to let Philadelphia get involved. An example of how poorly law enforcement agencies worked together was in May, 1844 when an
anti-Catholic riot erupted in
Kensington. The
sheriff was the only police officer available in Kensington at the time and when Philadelphia's
militia was called they hesitated because they hadn't been reimbursed for past calls. By the time the militia arrived the riot was out of control. Attempts to improve the issue included an 1845 law that required several of the surrounding districts to maintain adequate law enforcement and an 1850 act which gave Philadelphia law enforcement the authority to police seven surrounding districts.
Consolidation
There had been several unsuccessful proposals at consolidation before 1854. The main opposition of consolidation came from the
Whig Party. The Whigs usually dominated Philadelphia elections while the outlying districts were dominated by the
Democrats and the Whigs feared they'd lose power within the city. The mayor was given substantial control of the
police department and control of municipal administration and executive departments with oversight and control of the budget from the
city council.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Act Of Consolidation 1854'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://act_of_consolidation__1854.totallyexplained.com">Act of Consolidation, 1854 Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
