Iowa
History Project
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MOELLER, HUBERT L. Our Iowa Its Beginning and Growth; New York, Newsom and
Company: 1938
After Columbus discovered America in 1492, Spain claimed all of the "New World." Other countries became jealous. They did not want Spain to become too rich and too powerful. So they also sent expeditions to find new land. England sent the Cabots. They landed on the mainland of North America in 1497. Because of the Cabot discovery, England laid claim to all of the continent of North America.
FRENCH CLAIMS
In 1673, as we have learned, France sent Marquette and Joliet to explore the Mississippi region and they found Iowa land. A few years later, in 1682, another Frenchman, Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, commonly called Le Salle, went down the Illinois River to where it enters the Mississippi. From there he went south to the mouth of the big river. He built a fort at the lower end of the Mississippi and claimed for France all of the land that was drained by the great river and its branches. It was La Salle who gave the name Louisiana to the land he claimed for his king, Louis XIV.
La Salle never saw Iowa land; but a missionary, Father Hennepin, who traveled with him, came north on the Mississippi from the mouth of the Illinois River. Hennepin was therefore, one of the first white men to see our state.
Later, La Salle tried to establish a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. He sailed from France with 280 colonists and hoped to find the river's mouth by way of the Gulf of Mexico. He missed the place and landed too far west. His colony settled in what is now Texas and proved a failure. La Salle himself was shot to death by traitors in his own expedition.
Still another Frenchman, D'Iberville, established the first permanent settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley. It was located eighty miles west of where New Orleans now stands. From this settlement French explorers and traders went through the valley of the great river, many of them visiting Iowa land.
France may be said to have been the first nation that really had a right to call itself the owner of the Mississippi Valley. She could claim it by discovery, by exploration, and by settlement.
FRANCE AND ENGLAND CLASH
By the middle of the eighteenth century (that is, 1750) both France and England had many settlements in certain parts of North America. Both wanted the same land. They fought a war, usually called the French and Indian War, to settle the quarrel, in which France was defeated. She lost Canada and all of the land east of the Mississippi except a strip near its mouth. In that part of the valley she was given the right to own and control both banks of the river. West of the Mississippi the territory left to the French, reaching as far west as the Rocky Mountains and Spanish Mexico was still called Louisiana.
England was the greatest sea power in the world. France, now that she had been defeated, feared that she could not keep England from getting the rest of her land in North America. Because of that fear, France, in 1762, secretly gave Louisiana to Spain. Thus Iowa land, because it was a part of Louisiana Territory, became Spanish property.
The French people who had settled in North America were now forced to live under either the English or the Spanish flag. They hated England, and when George Rogers Clark captured the Northwest Territory during the Revolutionary War, the French in that section north of the Ohio River were glad to help Clark and to declare allegiance to the new American Government.
UNDER SPAIN
When Spain first took over the government of Louisiana Territory, the French settlers refused to recognize the Spanish officials. The King of Spain had to send a stern governor as their new master. Spain, who had long owned Mexico and California, now controlled also all the land between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi. She also owned, for three hundred miles from its mouth, the east bank of the big river. This large area in 1768 had only about 13,500 inhabitants.
Spain wanted to make a great and powerful colony of Louisiana. She established Spanish courts and laws and required that the people speak the Spanish language.
A few years after Louisiana Territory was given to Spain, our Revolutionary War took place. As a result of this was the thirteen English colonies along the Atlantic Ocean became free from England. They set up a new government and called themselves the United States of America. The western boundary of the new nation was the Mississippi River. The new American nation was a rival of the Spaniards in Mississippi Valley. Spain feared losing her land to this new country.
The Spanish governor of Louisiana sent men through the upper Mississippi Valley who tried to get the settlers to turn against the United States. Spain even tried to buy off the settlers. She had always levied heavy taxes on goods that were sent down the Mississippi, but now she told the settlers these would be no more taxes if they would join the Spanish colony. Some of the settlers wanted to join Spain, while others became angry and wanted to go to war with her. The United States Government finally got Spain's permission to let settlers send their goods down the river without a tax.
UNDER FRANCE AGAIN
It was a weak French king who gave Louisiana to Spain. When Napoleon became ruler of France, a few years after our United States Government was organized, he wanted Louisiana back. He intended to build a large colony in North America. Because he had a large army and Spain did not dare to oppose him, Louisiana was given back to France.
Napoleon's plans for a big American colony did not come to pass. He was about to go to war with England and he needed money. So, in 1803, he sold Louisiana Territory to the United States.
Little progress was made in what is now Iowa during the years it was owned by European countries. No permanent settlements were made, although many trading posts were established. A number of grants of land were given and people were beginning to see the value of Iowa land. Soon after the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon, many settlers came west to live. Iowa land, however, was kept for the Indians for a number of years.
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Iowa is part of a large territory that was bought from France by representatives of the United States. This purchase of Louisiana was almost an accident. The men who bought it for the United Stares had no authority to buy th eland and when they set out had no intention of buying it. They bought it, as many things are bought today, because it was cheap.
THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI
By owning both banks of the lower Mississippi, Spain could control all the business on the river. She used this control to get money by charging taxes on all boars on the river. She also tried to turn the settlers and backwoodsmen that lived on American land against the United States Government. She thought she could do this because our country was young and weak at that time. But American citizens in the upper Mississippi Valley said they should have the right to send their goods down the river without being taxed. They asked the United States Government to help them. The backwoodsmen said they would take their rifles and capture New Orleans. The Spanish governor was afraid of these men and it looked like war.
In 1795, Thomas Pickney, then American Minister to Spain, succeeded in getting that country to agree to a treaty. Under the new agreement the citizens of the United States were given free use of the Mississippi River. The treaty encouraged settlers to come to the "Northwest Territory."
Shortly after the treaty of 1795, Napoleon Bonaparte, a young French soldier, became ruler of France. He wanted to establish a strong colony in America. Because of his great power in Europe, Spain feared him and secretly gave Louisiana territory back to France in 1800. The United States did not want France, under so powerful a ruler as Napolean, for a neighbor in North America. The settlers were afraid that the French would not allow them the free use of the Mississippi River as the Spaniards had done.
JEFFERSON TRIES TO BUY NEW ORLEANS
Robert Livingston was United States Minister to France. Jefferson wrote to him and said, "There is on the globe one single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans, through which the produce of three eighths of our territory must pass to market, and from its fertility this area will ere long yield more than half of our produce and contain more than half of our inhabitants. France, placing herself at that door, assumes to us the attitude of hostility.
President Jefferson sent James Monroe as a special representative to help Livingston buy from France the island of New Orleans and the east bank of the Mississippi. But Napoleon did not want to sell. The American representatives worked with him for weeks without success.
Suddenly Napoleon changed his mind. He was about to go to war with England and feared that because of her large navy England would be able to take Louisiana away from him. Furthermore he needed money. So one day he surprised the American representatives by offering to sell them all of Louisiana. But Monroe and Livingston had not been given the right to buy so much land. President Jefferson had told them to offer two million dollars for th eland he wanted. When Napoleon offered to sell all of Louisiana they did not at first know what to do. But they decided to accept Napoleon's proposition and buy it. After Livingston had signed his name to the papers he said to Monroe, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our lives."
TROUBLE OVER THE PURCHASE
Much trouble was caused by the agreement that was made between Napoleon's agents and Livingston and Monroe. France had agreed not to sell Louisiana without Spain's consent. Now Spain objected to the sale but Napoleon was so strong that he paid no attention to what Spain said. The French government was also supposed to vote on such a sale, and many leading Frenchmen were opposed to selling Louisiana. Napoleon, however, sold it without their consent.
In this country Jefferson did not know whether he had the right to buy land. He wanted the Constitution changed so as to give him that power. His friends who wanted the land told him that it would take several years to make such a change and that Napoleon might not want to sell by that time. So Jefferson signed the treaty. Some people said the land was no good and that we paid too much. Others were fearful that new states created in the future out of this territory would give the people of the Mississippi Valley more power in the nation than the people of the original states now had. But Jefferson's party was in control of Congress at this time and favored the purchase.
Congress agreed to the treaty on October 19, 1803. On December 20 of the same year Governor William C. Claiborne who had been appointed by President Jefferson, took over the government of New Orleans. Since that time Iowa has always been a part of the United States.
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TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT
In a territory the management of local affairs is largely in the hands of the national Government. The people of a territory do not have so much to say about their own affairs as do the people of a state. The President, for instance, appoints the governor of a territory, whereas the people elect him in a state. This is one reason why many people prefer to live in a state. Another reason is that states have representatives who can vote in the United States Congress while territories do not have a vote there.
The advantage of the territorial government, on the other hand, is that the cost of running it is paid by our national government. In states the people must tax themselves to pay for their government. People in a new section of the country, because they were poor, often preferred territory to state.
INDIANA AND MISSOURI
When the United States bought Louisiana from France it became necessary for her to provide a government for the new territory. To do so, the new region was first divided into two parts. The southern part was called the Territory of Orleans; the northern part, the District of Louisiana. Since very few people lived in the northern division, it was attached to the Territory of Indiana for its government.
A serious difficulty soon arose. The southern parr of the District of Louisiana was far south of Iowa and the people who lived there wanted to own slaves. But the laws of the Territory of Indiana did not permit slavery. Congress then made into a new territory all of the land of the Louisiana Purchase that was north of the present southern boundary of the state of Arkansas. The new territory was first called the Territory of Louisiana, but when the present State of Louisiana was admitted to the Union, in 1812, the name of the territory to the north was changed to Missouri.
NO GOVERNMENT
In 1820, the present State of Missouri was carved out of the Territory of Missouri. When that was done Congress seems to have forgotten about that part of the Missouri Territory which was not included in the new state. It did not provide any kind of government for it. Perhaps that was because very few people lived there. Iowa land was then considered a good place for the Indians.
The people who lived on Iowa land soon found that they needed a government. A murder took place at Dubuque. One miner shot another miner; the murderer said he could not be punished because there was no government and no law. The settlers said something must be done; so they decided to hold court and try the murderer. A jury was chosen and it sat on a log to hear the case. The murderer had someone to act for him as attorney. The jury said that the man was guilty of murder and should be hanged in one month.
The miner took his case to the courts of Illinois, to the governor of Missouri, and to the national Government at Washington. They said they could do nothing, and he was hanged.
MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN
Congress now saw that something must be done to provide a government for this territory. In 1834 all of the old Territory of Missouri that was north of the State of Missouri was made a part of the Territory of Michigan. But Michigan, too, wanted to become a state. So some provision again had to be made for Iowa land.
In 1836, Iowa became a part of the Territory of Wisconsin. Henry Dodge was governor of the territory. He ordered that a census be taken. It was found that there were 10,531 white people then living in what is now Iowa.
The first legislature for the Territory of Wisconsin met in 1836, at Belmont, the site of which is now a farm in Wisconsin. Eighteen men came from west and nineteen from east of the Mississippi. The second legislature for the territory met in 1837 at Flint Hills, now Burlington. This was the first legislature to meet within the present State of Iowa.
TERRITORY OF IOWA
In 1838, Wisconsin Territory was divided. The portion that was west of the Mississippi was organized as a separate territory and was called Iowa. It included what is now Iowa and most of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Another census was taken in 1838. Iowa then had 22,860 people. The population had doubled in two years.
President Van Buren appointed a governor, a secretary, and three justices of the territorial supreme court. The people were to elect a legislature. The Iowa Territory could now send a delegate to Congress. The delegate was allowed to speak but not to vote. Congress gave the new territory $20,000, a section of land for public buildings, and $5,000 for a library.
Robert Lucas of Ohio was the first man, having twice been governor of Ohio. Mr. Lucas was born in Virginia; he was fifty-seven years old when he came to govern Iowa. He played an important part in our early history.
The first legislature for the Territory of Iowa met at Burlington, in Zion Church. It was made up of two houses, the Council, now called the Senate, and the House. There were 13 members of the Council and 26 of the House. Many important laws were passed by this first legislature, but the members are said to have been extravagant. They appropriated more money than Congress had allowed them. One member said: "Uncle Sam is a cow, and we will milk her freely." Governor Lucas, who had been a legislator in Ohio for many years, wanted the legislature to be careful about spending. He made many wise recommendations but they were not followed.
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IOWA'S STRUGGLE TO BECOME A STATE
Soon after Iowa became a territory, some of its people began to talk about making it a state. In November, 1839, Governor Lucas said it would be a good plan for Iowa to think about writing a state constitution for itself. Before a territory can become a state it must write a constitution and present it to Congress.
VOTERS OPPOSE A CONVENTION
The legislature of the Iowa Territory decided to give the voters a chance to say whether they wanted to send men to a convention for the purpose of writing a state constitution. An election was held in August, 1840. When the votes were counted it was found that 937 had voted for a convention and 2,903 against it. The people, therefore, do not seem to have been as eager to have Iowa become a State as was Governor Lucas.
John Chamber, the second governor for Iowa Territory, also said it was very important that a convention should be called to write a constitution. Another election was therefore held by the legislature in 1842. At this second election every county that Iowa then had voted against having a convention. That meant that Iowa must wait longer for its place on the flag.
The voters then did not cast their votes as we now do at an election. The officers at the voting places made two columns on a sheet of paper. At the top of one column they wrote "Convention" and at the head of the other they wrote "No Convention." If the voter said he wanted a convention, his name was written in the first column; if he did not want one, it was written in the second.
Many new people were coming to Iowa every year and the population was growing rapidly. As the territory grew, statehood became more and more necessary. Another election was therefore called in 1844. This time the people voted that a convention should be held and a constitution written.
FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
The convention that was called to write the constitution met at Iowa City on October 7, 1844. There were 72 men, or delegates, present; they came from twenty-five counties. The two main political parties at the time were the Democratic and the Whig. Two thirds of the delegates were Democrats and one third were Whigs. Most of the men knew very little about making laws or writing a constitution.
A number of famous debates took place at this first convention. Some of the questions that were discussed were: "Should their meetings be opened with prayer?" "Should banks be allowed to organize?" "What salaries should be paid to state officials?" and, most important of all, "What should be the boundaries of the new state?"
The convention worked for 26 days. It wrote a constitution and sent it to Congress in December 1844. Congress was to decide three things: first, was Iowa's population large enough for a state; second, were the boundaries fixed by the convention satisfactory; third, was the rest of the constitution in harmony with the national Constitution?
THE BOUNDARIES
Three different sets of boundaries were suggested for the new state. The first was proposed by Gov. Lucas and later used by the constitutional convention. The second was fixed by Congress and was called the "Nicollet Boundary," because it was taken from a map that had been drawn by a Mr. Nicollet. This second boundary made Iowa much smaller than under the first one. The third was a compromise between the first and the second and is the one that we now have. It made Iowa much larger than the second boundary plan but somewhat smaller than she would have been under the first.
WHAT CONGRESS DID
Slavery was the big question before Congress when Iowa asked to become a state. There were then as many free states in the Union as slave states. That meant that the number of Senators in Congress who favored slavery or represented slave states was as great as the number from free states. Neither side was willing to let the other get more votes. The only way whereby the number could be kept even was by admitting a slave state and a free state at the same time.
Florida, a southern territory that wanted slaves, was asking to be admitted as a state. Since Iowa wanted to be a free state, Congress decided to admit the two at the same time. It gave to Iowa the Nicollet boundary.
THE PEOPLE VOTE
The people of Iowa now had to vote whether they wanted to have a state with the boundaries that Congress had fixed. They did not like the boundaries proposed and voted against statehood and Iowa had to continue as a territory.
The legislature of the territory asked the people to vote again. This time they were to say whether they liked the constitution without the Nicollet boundaries. The majority was against the constitution. This decision meant that another convention would have to be called and a new constitution written before Iowa could be a state.
SECOND CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
The Territorial legislature called another convention. This time it had thirty-two delegates. It met at Iowa City in May, 1846. The new constitution was written in fifteen days. It was much like the first except that the things which the people did not like in the first constitution were changed.
While the second convention was at work, Congress voted new boundaries for Iowa, the same that we now have. Another election was held on August 3, 1846, to vote on the new constitution and the new boundaries. This time the people voted by a small majority to become a state. There were 9,492 votes for statehood and 9,038 against it.
Congress approved the new Iowa Constitution early in December. President Polk signed the bill, which made Iowa a state, on December 28, 1846.
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