[Transcribers notes]

This text is derived from a raw txt file in the Internet Archive.

Obvious misspellings have been corrected but quotations and contemporary spellings are unchanged.

The St. Peters river is mentioned as a proposed northern border for the new state of Iowa. It is now named the Minnesota river; it runs from western Minnesota (about 120 miles north of the final Iowa border at 43.5 degrees North) southeast to Mankato (about 45 miles north of the Iowa border), then to the Twin Cities (about 120 miles north of the Iowa border). Had the St. Peters been adopted about 15,000 square miles of what is now Minnesota would have been Iowa. Another proposal to extend the border to the 45th parallel would have put most of the Twin Cities in Iowa.

[End Transcriber's note]

HISTORY
OF THE
CONSTITUTIONS OF IOWA

BY

BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUGH, PH. D.

PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

PUBLISHED BY
THE HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT OF IOWA
DES MOINES, IOWA
1902


TO HIS FRIEND
CHARLES ALDRICH
FOUNDER AND CURATOR OF
THE HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT OF IOWA
THIS VOLUME IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR

PREFACE

To recur occasionally to the history and ideals of our pioneerforefathers will give us a more generous appreciation of the worth ofour Commonwealth and a firmer faith in our own provincial character. Itis believed that a more intimate knowledge of the political history ofour own Commonwealth will not only inspire local patriotism, but give usa better perspective of the political life of the Nation.

This little volume was written for publication by the HistoricalDepartment of Iowa upon the request of Mr. Charles Aldrich. Since thework is intended as a narrative essay, it has been thought best to omitall foot-note citations to authorities. For the original sourcesupon which the essay is largely based the reader is referred to theauthor's collections of documentary materials which have been publishedby the Iowa State Historical Society. Quotations used in the body of thetext have been reprinted literatim without editing.

The Convention of 1857 and the Constitution of 1857 have been littlemore than noticed in chapters XIX and XX. An adequate discussion ofthese subjects would have transcended the limits set for this volume byseveral hundred pages.

The author wishes to express his obligations to his friend andcolleague, Professor W. C. Wilcox, of the University of Iowa, who hascarefully read the proof-sheets of the whole volume.

BENJ. F. SHAMBAUGH.
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
JULY, 1902

CONTENTS