Chapter 12
Iowa Becomes a State
Dispute over boundaries
The population of Iowa grew rapidly during the Territorial period. In 1840 it was 43,112; and in 1846, 102,388.
Already in 1839 the first proposal was made to make Iowa a State.
Nothing came of this. It was again proposed both in 1840 and
1842, and with similar negative results. Under the fatherly
guidance of Congress, most of the people of the Territory
were, for the time being, satisfied, and no strong desire for
statehood, since that would mean more salaries to pay and
therefore higher taxes
Governor James W. Grimes |
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With a population of about 100,000, the people, however, in 1844 felt strong and wealthy enough to ask Congress for statehood. Congress was also willing, but disagreed with the people about....
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....boundaries. The people wanted the Missouri for the western boundary and also a part of Minnesota. Congress proposed to run the Western boundary about a hundred miles east of the Missouri. This the people refused to accept, and so the matter dragged on until December 28, 1846, when President James K. Polk signed the bill admitting Iowa to the Union with its present boundaries.
Low salaries
Under their first constitution, adopted in 1846, the people of Iowa could elect of provide for the appointment of all its officials, State and local, and would be represented in Congress by two senators and several representatives; but they also had to pay the salaries of their officials except those of the National senators and representatives. Since there were still many poor people in the State, salaries of the State officials were made so low that some thought capable men wouldn't run for office. The governor's salary was $1,000 a year, that of the secretary of State was $500, and that of the State treasurer $400. There was no lieutenant governor.
No banks but sand banks
The constitution of 1846 limited the indebtedness of the State to $100,000, and restricted the establishment of banks. The only bank in Iowa during the Territorial period had failed, and banks in other states had issued paper money which could not be redeemed in gold and silver. For these reasons the poor farmers in Iowa thought it better not to have any banks at all. Ansel Briggs, the first State governor, declared that the only kind of banks the people of Iowa believed in were sand banks - those well tilled.
Every white male citizen of the State, 21 years and older, was made a voter. But free Negroes were excluded from voting.
Dispute over senators
To be a State senator or a State representative, one had to be a voter and at least 25 years of age. The first session of the State legislature, the General Assembly, as it was called, met in Iowa City on December 3, 1846. The senate had 19 members and the house of representatives had 40. They disagreed about the election of United States senators and none were elected until 1848. Augustus Caesar Dodge and George W. Jones were the first Iowa senators in Congress. Both were Democrats.
Jones remained in the Senate until 1859. He was then appointed Unites State minister to New Granada (now Columbia) in South ....
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....America. He returned to the Unites State in 1861. The civil War was then raging. Jones, being one of the country's leading Democrats, and a former friend of Jefferson Davis, was suspected of disloyalty and imprisoned. However, he was soon released and lived he rest of his life in Dubuque, Iowa.
Senator Dodge sawed his own firewood
Dodge was senator until 1855. His successor was the Whig, James Harlan. Once in the Senate a fellow senator spoke disrespectfully of common labor, saying it was degrading. Senator Dodge replied:" I tell the senator in the presence of my father who will attest its truth, that I have performed, and do perform when a home, all of those menial services to which the Senator has referred in terms so grating to my feelings. As a general thing, I saw all my wood and so all my own marketing. I never had a servant of any color to wait upon me a day in all my life. I have driven teams, horses, mules and oxen and I considered myself as respectable then as I now do."
Dodge spoke in the presence of his father, also a senator at the same time. From 1855 to 1859 the younger Dodge was United States minister to Spain. He returned to the United State to live in Burlington, Iowa.
Questions and Exercises: Why was statehood for several years put off? What powers did Iowa have as a State that it didn't have as a Territory? What did the constitution of 1846 say about banks? What limitations were there on voting? Why was George W. Jones imprisoned in 1861? To what party did James Harlan belong?
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