Constitution of Indiana - Constitution of 1851 - Constitutional Convention

Constitutional Convention

The 150 delegates were elected in the 1850 election and the convention was convened in the Hall of Representatives at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, starting October 7, 1850. The delegation was split with 95 Democrats and 55 Whigs. George Whitfield Carr, who was the Speaker of the House in the last session of the General Assembly, presided over the convention. Other members included Thomas Hendricks, David Wallace, and Alvin P. Hovey. Chief Justice Isaac Blackford swore the members in and Secretary of State Charles Test was charged with keeping the record.

Both parties adopted a set of proposals they wanted incorporated into the constitution prior to the convention. Whigs wanted all judicial and legislative office at all levels of government publicly elected, expansion of suffrage to all citizens over 21 including blacks, a ban on public debt, minimum funding requirements for schools, requiring the legislature to only enact laws that went into effect state-wise, and the lowering of salaries of all public officials. The Democrats adopted their items after the Whigs, and included the same items. Democrats accused the Whigs of stealing their issues to gain more representation at the convention.

The first week was spent organizing the convention, employing a stenographer, and because the State Printer was a delegate a new printer had to be employed. The Hall of Representatives was too small and the roof leaked, so the convention choose to rent the nearby Masonic Lodge to hold the meeting at a rate of $12 per day. The convention finally relocated to the lodge and the first session was convened there on December 26, 1850. The first two days were spent debating the cost of the lodge which many considered extravagant.

About half of the convention was spent not in debate on the constitution, but rather on politics of the day and other personal matters. Once it focused on the constitution the primary goal was to find ways to reduce the cost of government and increase its efficiency. The session lasted 127 days, ending February 10, 1851. It cost the state $88,280.39.

The first topic to be discussed was the need to make local officials publicly elected. They agreed that sheriffs, commissions, board members, judges, coroners, auditors, clerks, and many other offices should no longer be appointed but rather chosen through election. The second topic was the expansion of suffrage. The final issues discussed received less time and included biennial legislative sessions, banning special legislation targeting only certain localities, and the impeachment process for local officials. To remedy many of these problems, the constitutions of Illinois and Wisconsin were used as references, their states having already dealt with similar issues. The resulting constitution was Jacksonian, and significantly expanded the democratic principles.