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Constitution of Washington

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Title page of the 1889 Constitution

The Constitution of the State of Washington is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Washington. The constitution was adopted as part of Washington Territory's path to statehood in 1889. An earlier constitution was drafted and ratified in 1878, but it was never officially adopted.

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Transcription

We are in one of the three vaults at the National Archives building in Washington, DC. I’m Trevor Plante. I’m currently the Acting Chief of Reference at the National Archives. We work with people that come through the door that are doing research. If anyone e-mails us, sends a fax, phone call, letter, then we respond to those as well. The Constitution is on public display here at the National Archives. We do have several remarkable documents that aren’t as well known, that lead up to the Constitution. On May 29, 1787, a delegate from Virginia, Edmund Randolph, introduced a plan that became known as the Virginia Plan. The significance is, is this kind of laid the groundwork, or the framework, if you will, for what the Constitution kind of rested on. “Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee that a national government ought to be established consisting of a supreme legislative, judiciary and executive.” This is the first printed draft of the Constitution as reported to the Convention by the Committee of Detail, August 6, 1787. And one of the reasons I chose this, is it’s annotated by George Washington. This is a printed draft of the Constitution that was brought to the Convention on September 13, 1787. This is as close to the final version that you’re gonna find right before the final. Most of the debate was over and at this point they were just finalizing what the Constitution would look like. They had the final vote on September 15, 1787, and then signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787. Once the final vote was taken on the Constitution then copies were sent to the 13 states. They had to be ratified. So what we’re looking at here is the Pennsylvania ratification of the Constitution. If you’ve been to the Rotunda at the National Archives, the Constitution, it’s multipage. The Pennsylvania delegates have it down to one single sheet. Up here we have, “We the People of the United States,” is written in very large script. Which is amazing when you look at how much space it takes up. So obviously they felt that that was a very important part of the original Constitution that they wanted to emphasize.

1878 constitution

In 1877 Orange Jacobs, Washington Territory's Delegate to U.S. Congress, requested an enabling act that would allow Washington to become a state as soon as a state constitution was drafted and ratified by the voters. At the same time, an act was passed by the Washington Territorial Legislative Assembly to convene a constitutional convention. Without waiting for action by Congress, Washington's voters elected fifteen delegates who met in Walla Walla in June and July 1878 and drafted a constitution.[1]

The voters of the territory approved the constitution in November 1878 with a vote of 6,537 in favor and 3,236 opposed. Congress, however, did not pass the statehood bill introduced by Jacobs. Washington Territory's next Delegate, Thomas H. Brents, also failed to get a statehood bill passed with the 1878 constitution.[2] Later statehood bills abandoned the 1878 constitution and instead called for a state constitutional convention.[3]

Although never approved by Congress, the 1878 constitution is an important historical document which shows the political thinking of the time. It was used extensively during the drafting of Washington State's 1889 constitution, the one and only official Constitution of the State of Washington.[4]

1889 constitution

In December 1888, Congress introduced an act to enable Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana to become states. Among other requirements in the Enabling Act of 1889, Congress asked each prospective state to draft and ratify a state constitution.

An election was held to choose 75 delegates to frame a constitution for the State of Washington. The elected delegates assembled on July 4, 1889, in the Territorial Capitol Building in Olympia and labored through the summer to draft a constitution that would form the basis for all future Washington laws. On August 23, 1889, the convention concluded its work. Miles C. Moore, the last governor of Washington Territory, called for an election to be held on October 1, 1889, to ratify the state constitution and elect the officers of the new state government. A vote of 40,152 to 11,879 approved the Washington State Constitution.

A certified copy of the Constitution of the State of Washington was sent by courier to President Harrison whose approval was necessary before Washington was proclaimed a state. Days went by with no word; finally on November 4, 1889, a message was received, stating that Governor Moore forgot to sign the Constitution and President Harrison could not approve it. Overnight a new copy was prepared, and it was sent to the President by courier the next day. On November 11, 1889, the President issued a proclamation declaring Washington's Constitution approved, and the state was admitted to the Union.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Meany & Condon, p. 4
  2. ^ Meany & Condon, p. 5
  3. ^ Taylor 1898, pp. 97–98
  4. ^ a b Office of the Secretary of State, Washington. "Washington State Constitution". Retrieved 2008-11-04.

Much of this article is adapted from material copied from the website of the Washington Secretary of State, a public domain resource; see About the Office:  Web Sites Privacy Policy under Public Domain & Copyright Information.

Further reading

External links

This page was last edited on 22 December 2023, at 00:20
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