Follow @IJSanders

12,399 views

Anthony Sanders

Follow @IJSanders

, 18 tweets, 8 min read

My Authors

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions visits the land of potatoes and gems—but only one is native to the state. That’s right, we’re exploring Idaho’s Constitution! Idaho is still operating under its original 1889 Constitution, but it took a while to get there.

2. The future state did not come under full U.S. control until an 1846 treaty with Britain. Protestant, Catholic, and LDS missionaries established settlements (and brought potatoes) as early as the 1830s and by the 1860s gold was discovered and the population boomed.

3. This boom led Congress to create the Idaho Territory in 1863. Mining of all kinds continued to drive the population in the state even as the gold rush peaked in 1869. Mining brought many immigrants and by 1870, 29% of Idaho’s population were Chinese.

4. The growth in population led to a push for statehood—but the push was not uniform. The panhandle did not feel a kinship with the rest of the state and instead desired to join MT, OR, or WA. They petitioned Congress in 1865 and 1870 for separation, but Congress declined.

5. The panhandle tried again in 1887 and Congress passed a bill to separate it from the rest of the state. But President Cleveland employed a pocket veto. In April 1889 the territorial governor called for a constitutional convention for the whole territory.

6. The people elected delegates who met in Boise in July 1889. The delegates were almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Labor unions were excluded as were members of the LDS church, Chinese immigrants, & the Native Americans—but it was open to the press & public.

7. Committees did the heavy drafting and most provisions were adopted by the convention without debate on the floor. The floor debates were recorded, but the committee reports were not so there is little legislative history about the meaning of many provisions.

8. The delegates did not draft an inclusive document. Section 4 of the Declaration of Rights protects “freedom of religion” but it singled out those who practice polygamy (the LDS Church) and other “pernicious practices” as undeserving of the protection under that article.

9. The discrimination did not stop there. Any practitioner, follower, or teacher of polygamy was prohibited from voting. Also, any Chinese person not born in the U.S. was prohibited from voting, holding office, or serving as a juror, even if they became citizens.

10. The Constitution granted women the right to vote in school board elections and hold school related positions, but the delegates voted down measures that would give women full suffrage rights.

11. Idaho’s Constitution imparts a broad eminent domain power by defining “public use” as “any other use necessary to the complete development of the material resources of the state.” But, in practice, it is rarely used for private gain.

castlecoalition.org/pdf/report/ED_…

12. This Constitution also adopted a Blaine Amendment, like most constitutions of the day. It also prohibited any sectarian education in public schools, though a vote to allow teaching from the Bible lost 23-25.

ij.org/issues/school-…

13. The delegates adopted a Baby Ninth Amendment, which the Idaho Supreme Court later used in declaring that parents had the right to control the upbringing of their children in 1957.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

14. The delegates spent a lot of time discussing water rights as the two major economic industries in the state were mining and farming, which both require large amounts of water. It is one of the few states to devote an entire article to water rights.

15. The delegates approved this Constitution by a vote of 50-1 and the people approved the document by a large margin. The only major groups who disapproved of the Constitution were not actually allowed to vote so their opposition was futile.

16. Congress approved the Constitution and passed an Admission Act which was signed by President Harrison in July 1890. This is still Idaho’s Constitution, but it has been amended over 100 times, though the people have rejected over 40 amendments submitted by the legislature.

17. The people also rejected a constitutional convention in 1918 and a new draft in 1970, by a wide margin. The people are happy with the Constitution and content to amend it when necessary, like to protect their right to hunt, fish, and trap which was added in 2012.