Constitution
A popular referendum approved the constitution of the Oklahoma on September 17, 1907, which came into effect upon Oklahoma's ratification of the United States Constitution on November 17, 1907. The ratification of both documents marked Oklahoma as the 46th US State.
The constitution contains a bill of rights in itself, but its preamble mentions the principles the government of Oklahoma is to uphold. The constitution's preamble states that the state government is to:
- "...secure and perpetuate the blessing of liberty; to secure just and rightful government; to promote our mutual welfare and happiness..."
Among these foundational principles protected by the Oklahoma bill of rights are: political power derives from the consent of the people; the people have the inherent rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry; the right to peaceful assembly; a ban on the interference with suffrage; the definition of treason; the right to trial by jury; and that marriage in the State of Oklahoma is defined as being between a man and a woman.
Read more about this topic: Government Of Oklahoma
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—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)