POLS 4940 State Constitutions Week 3 Lecture Notes

State Constitutions in the 19th Century 9/9/2014

Territorial Expansion
o Original 13 states had originally a lot of extra space, South expanded
state lines, where as great contention by Eastern states over Great
Lakes region
o Expansion is dramatic and quick, all territory seen as potential states
o Northwest Ordinance (1787) organized all the Great Lakes into
separate territories, provided boundaries and government, also
outlawed slavery in the territories (potentially controversial later)
o US Constitution enumerates that congress has power over the
territory and property belonging to the US (Const. Art. IV, Sec. 3), has
complete discretion
o Leads to massive number of State Constitutions, small amount of new
states but large amount of revised constitution
Three Goals (AGAIN) - Tarr
o 1- Intrastate distribution of political power
o 2- Scope of State governmental power
o 3- Relation of the state to economic behavior
Political Power
o Apportionment how to determine those representatives
Deep concern that rural thoughts would get swept away by
urban matters
o Franchise who had the right to vote
In framing generation, most states kept property restriction
(some only taxpaying), common republican thinking at the time
Kept voters smart (had some way to earn money) but also a
protection for those who had economic interests
In 19th century, there is starting to be some backlash to this idea
o 1820s/30s Jacksonian belief in the virtue, intelligence, and full
capacity for self-government, of the great mass o our people, the
industrious, honest, manly, intelligent millions of freeman more
trustworthy, hard workers, less self-interested
o They perform militia duty they pay a tax for all they possessMen
who have no property are put in the situation of the slaves of Virgnia
most states moving in that direction to give more people the right to
vote, property restriction receding, by 1850 only 3 states still have this
restriction
o Problem of race always been there, 5 early states said that doesnt
matter, but this changes pretty quickly

Connected to Nativism
By 1860 only 5 states allowed free black men to vote
Post-Reconstruction Southern Constitutions mostly written by
Nothern carpetbaggers
GA delegate I will fix it so that the people shall rule and the
Negro shall never be heard from about defining the people of
the state of Georgia, excluding disfavored people
Other unfavorable groups Chinese, Idaho
State and Economy
o Antebellum state economic development
o Internal improvements (canals, roads), special corporate charters, tax
deals
o Panic of 1837 biggest economic depression before The Great
Depression
States were dramatically overstretched in debt, couldnt make
payments
Most revised constitutions are kicked off and replaced with
documents restricting but mostly encouraging economies
o General incorporation laws, strict debt limits, ban on special laws Meant to hamstring the state
o Panic of 1873 reinforces concern of limitability of the state to go into
debt for private businesses
Early moves towards economic development to help businesses
out, canals, roads
Later on states have to deal with industrial revolution
o Industrial Revolution and constitutional legislation
Introduces huge problem of mega corporations concern with
employees, favoritism purchased through bribery
o Creation of oversight bureaucracies
Railroad abuses, small farms being punished, mining practices
Oversee abuses and enforce legal restrictions
o Removal of legislative power to support named industries Montana
prohibited from dealings with railroads, Idaho had a provision to
declare railroads as public highways
o Anti-corruption policies degree to which money in corporations was
buying influence basis for earliest campaign finance laws
o Special ethics panels
o Not anti-capitalist moves more of a balanced perspective rather than
anti-corporate, provide protections against the biggest harms of big
business
SOP (separation of powers) : Legislature
o Procedural limitations on lawmaking certain number of days they can
legislate: limit the things they can address
o No special laws where general ones were possible divorce law, antifavoritism issue - all bills had to have an accurate title bill must be

read 3 times: time for deliberation single subject rule, log rolling
usually not allowed in state constitutions
o Substantive restrictions (debt mostly)
o Reflected belief that legislatures are by nature utterly careless of the
public welfare, if not hopelessly corrupt
SOP: Executive
o Popular election of governors helps to check legislation
o Splitting executive power
o By 1880 2/3rds elected secretaries of state, state treasurers, auditors,
and attorneys general
o Andrew Jackson tries to revitalize presidential power, caused some
states to backlash and split executive to prevent little Andrew Jacksons
SOP : Courts
o Judicial elections in part bc of economic scares, need to separate
courts to give them the backbone to stand up to state governments
o Will talk in more detail later
Positive Rights
o Hardly ever show up in US Constitution, but do start to show up in late
1800s state Constitutions
o Labor rights
NY Const. of 1938, Art. I, Sec. 17 massive def of labor rights
o Education
CO Const., Art. IX, Sec. 2
Southern Exceptionalism
o Reconstruction era constitutions
Congress puts under military rules, want to control these states
o Dominated by Northern Carpetbaggers and newly free African
Americans any politicians or people that have served the
Confederacy were stripped of political rights
o Broad equality provisions, minimal restrictions on economic powers
( wanted state legislature to have power to support business)
o President Hayes, end of Reconstruction 1877
If you agree my presidency is legit, Ill remove the military from
the South
Slowly the South returns to white supremacist tradition
o White supremacist constitutions
Looked the same except for race issue
Suffrage restrictions literacy test, poll taxes, grandfather
clause
Enshrining segregation
Interracial marriage bans