Oregon_Constitutional_Convention

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Oregon Constitutional Convention Oregon Constitutional Convention Oregon Constitutional Convention Seal of the Oregon Territory Also known as Participants Location Date Result Constitutional Convention of 1857 see below Salem, Oregon North America August 17 to September 18, 1857 Created Oregon Constitution The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon’s law. The proposal passed with a vote of 35 for adoption to 10 against. Oregon then became the 33rd state of the Union on February 14, 1859.[1] Matthew Deady, president of the convention On August 17, 1857, 60 delegates selected by the voters met in Salem to write a state constitution in preparation of statehood.[2] This body then selected officers, set up rules (45 in total) for the meeting, and divided into committees on various subjects such as military, judicial, legislative, and elections.[4] At the Convention, Chester N. Terry was elected as the secretary of the group, while several people served at different times as the chairperson including W. W. Bristow, Asa Lovejoy, Delazon Smith, and La Fayette Grover.[4] Judge Matthew Deady served as the president of the convention.[4] The group also settled a the debate over a disputed seat at the convention in favor of Perry B. Marple over F. G. Lockhart to represent Coos County.[4] Thirty-four of the delegates were farmers, while 18 were lawyers, including the three justices of the Oregon Supreme Court.[5] Two of the delegates were newspaper editors, five were miners, and another was a civil engineer.[6] Background In June 1846 the Oregon Question was decided with the United States gaining sole possession of all disputed land south of the 49th degree of latitude.[1][2] Afterward, on August 14, 1848, the United States government created the Oregon Territory, and in 1853 the northern and eastern sections of the territory became the Washington Territory.[3] In 1854 and 1855 bills in the Territorial Legislature pressing for statehood for the territory were defeated.[2] Then on December 12, 1856, the legislature passed a bill authorizing a convention to establish a constitution.[4] On June 1, 1857, the voters in the territory approved the resolution and elected delegates to a constitutional convention.[4] The vote was 7,209 in favor of holding a convention to 1,616 against the proposal.[5] Convention 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The main debates concerning a constitution revolved around slavery and the exclusion of Blacks, liquor laws, and what would be the boundaries of the new state.[2] After meeting for 31 days, the convention ended on September 18, when the delegates voted to approve the document as the constitution.[7] The final tally was 35 votes for passage and 10 against; 15 members of the convention were absent and did not vote.[2] The document was modeled after Indiana’s 1851 Constitution and included a provision that denied the right to vote to “negro, Chinaman or mulatto” citizens in the state to be, and though female suffrage was discussed, women were also denied the right to vote.[6] The final draft submitted to the populace contained a total of 18 articles.[4] Over half of the document’s content was derived in part from the Indiana constitution.[8] Oregon Constitutional Convention • William Matzger, Benton • John R. McBride, Yamhill • Stephen McCormick, Multnomah • Charles Meigs, Wasco • Richard Miller, Marion • Isaac R. Moores, Lane • Daniel Newcomb, Jackson • H. B. Nichols, Benton • Martin Olds, Yamhill • Delazon Smith, Linn • William Starkweather, Clackamas • William H. Watkins, Josephine • John W. Watts, Columbia • Frederick Waymire, Polk • John S. White, Washington • Thomas Whitted, Douglas • George Henry Williams, Marion • Stephen F. Chadwick, Douglas • Jesse Cox, Lane • Joseph Cox, Marion • Reuben Coyle, Linn • John T. Crooks, Linn • Matthew P. Deady, Douglas • Thomas Dryer, Multnomah & Washington • L. J. C. Members Duncan, Jackson All members of the convention and what • Luther [9] county they represented: • Levi • Solomon • Cyrus Olney, Elkins, Linn Anderson, Fitzhugh, Clatsop • William H. Washington Douglas • William H. Farrar, • Jesse • La Fayette Packwood, Multnomah Applegate, Grover, Curry Umpqua • A. D. Babcock, Polk & Tillamook • Reuben P. Boise, Polk • J. H. Brattrain, Linn • Paul Brattrain, Lane • William W. Bristow, Lane • Benjamin Franklin Burch, Polk • A. J. Campbell, Lane • Hector Campbell, Lane Marion • S. B. Hendershott, Josephine • Enoch Hoult, Lane • James K. Kelly, Clackamas • John Kelsay, Benton • Robert Kinney, Yamhill • Haman Lewis, Benton • David Logan, Multnomah • Asa Lovejoy, Clackamas • Perry B. Marple, Coos • J. C. Peebles, Marion • Paine Page On Prim, Jackson November 9, 1857, the voters approved • J. H. Reed, the document to serve as a state constitution upon statehood.[2] At this same vote, measJackson • Nathaniel ures to allow slavery and to allow free Blacks to live in the state were defeated[10] after Robbins, Clackamas they had been submitted as separate items to [2][4] The vote to • Levi Scott, vote on by the convention. approve the constitution by the citizens of Umpqua Oregon was 7,195 for the constitution and • Davis [5] The vote on Shannon, 3,215 against the document. slavery was 2,645 to allow slavery and 7,727 Marion • Erasmus D. to make it illegal, and the vote to make it ilShattuck, legal for Blacks to live in the state was 8,640 Washington to ban them and 1,081 to allow them to live in the state.[5] All white men over the age of • James 21 Shields, Linn were allowed to vote, and after the pas• Robert V. sage a delegation was sent east to Washington, D.C. to press for statehood.[7] Short, Oregon then waited on the United States Yamhill Congress to accept the constitution and ap• Nicholas prove Oregon for statehood.[2] Due to the onShrum, going debate over slavery in the country as Marion the nation approached the American Civil Subsequent history 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia War, the U.S. Senate did not pass legislation to bring Oregon into the Union until 1859, when Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14.[2] The Oregon Constitution was not altered until 1902.[2] Oregon Constitutional Convention propose Oregon’s legal foundation. The Oregonian, March 26, 2004. [7] ^ Information The 1857 Oregon Constitutional Convention. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on March 2, 2008. [8] Friedman, Lawrence M. 1985. A History of American Law, 2nd Edition. Simon & Schuster; New York, NY. p. 347. [9] Information About 1857 Constitutional Convention Delegates Sought. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on March 2, 2008. [10] The constitutional measure forbidding Blacks to live in Oregon, though never enforced, remained on the books until after World War I. References [1] ^ Oregon: The Oregon Question. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on March 2, 2008. [2] ^ Corning, Howard M. Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. [3] Establishment of Oregon Territory. HistoryLink.org. Retrieved on March 2, 2008. [4] ^ Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the state of Oregon held at Salem, commencing August 17, 1857, together with the constitution adopted by the people, November 9, 1857.. W.H. Byars, Salem, OR. 1882. http://books.google.com/ books?id=3CgHAAAAMAAJ. [5] ^ Horner, John B. (1919). Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. [6] ^ Leeson, Fred. Framing the Constitution – 60 men took 32 days to Further reading • The Oregon Constitution and Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention of 1857 by Charles Henry Carey. State Printing Department, 1926. • Oregon Blue Book: 1857 Oregon Constitution • State of Oregon Law Library: Category: Constitutional Law • During the Constitutional Convention, Oregon State Archives Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Constitutional_Convention" Categories: Oregon law, Oregon Territory, Members of the Oregon Constitutional Convention, 1857 in law, 1857 in the United States, Constitutional conventions This page was last modified on 5 March 2009, at 09:08 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) 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