Oregon Constitutional Convention - Convention

Convention

On August 17, 1857, 60 delegates selected by the voters met in Salem to write a state constitution in preparation of statehood. This body then selected officers, set up rules (45 in total) for the meeting, and divided into committees on various subjects such as military, judicial, legislative, and elections. At the Convention, Chester N. Terry was elected as the secretary of the group, while several people served at different times as the chairperson including William W. Bristow, Asa Lovejoy, Delazon Smith, and La Fayette Grover. Judge Matthew Deady served as the president of the convention. The group also settled the debate over a disputed seat at the convention in favor of Perry B. Marple over F. G. Lockhart to represent Coos County. Thirty-four of the delegates were farmers, while 18 were lawyers, including the three justices of the Oregon Supreme Court. Two of the delegates were newspaper editors, five were miners, and another was a civil engineer.

The main debates concerning a constitution revolved around slavery and the exclusion of Blacks, liquor laws, and what would be the boundaries of the new state. After meeting for 31 days, the convention ended on September 18, when the delegates voted to approve the document as the constitution. The final tally was 35 votes for passage and 10 against; 15 members of the convention were absent and did not vote. The document was modeled after Indiana's 1851 Constitution and included a provision that denied the right to vote to “negro, Chinaman or mulatto” citizens in the state to be, and though female suffrage was discussed, women were also denied the right to vote. The final draft submitted to the populace contained a total of 18 articles. Over half of the document's content was derived in part from the Indiana constitution.