Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania comprised the executive branch of the Pennsylvania State government between 1777 and 1790. It was headed by a president and a vice-president (analogous to a governor and lieutenant governor, respectively). The best-known member of the Council was Benjamin Franklin, who also served as its sixth president.

The 1776 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was framed by a constitutional convention called at the urging of the Continental Congress. The convention began work in Philadelphia on July 15, 1776—less than two weeks following adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution was adopted September 28 of the same year. The document included both A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth and a Plan or Frame of Government. The latter includes 47 sections, several of which deal with the formation and function of the Supreme Executive Council.

Section 3: "The supreme executive power shall be vested in a president and council."

Section 19: "For the present the supreme executive council of this state shall consist of twelve persons chosen in the following manner..."

The city of Philadelphia and the eleven counties existing at that time each elected a representative to sit on the Council. These eleven counties were Philadelphia (at that time a governmental entity distinct from the City of Philadelphia), Chester, Bucks, Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, Northampton, Bedford, Northumberland, and Westmoreland. Seats were added for Washington, Fayette, Franklin, Montgomery, Dauphin, Luzerne, Huntingdon, and Allegheny as those counties were established. (Many of these counties occupied considerably different—and often much larger—territories in the late 18th century than they do today.)

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