The second session of the third territorial legislature, convened December 1, 1817, and adjourned January 12, 1818. At this session a petition was formulated and forwarded to the delegate in congress, Mr. Nathaniel Pope, praying congress for the passage of an act which would permit the people of Illinois territory to form a constitution and apply for admission into the union.

       Mr. Pope presented the petition on the 16th of January, 1818, and was referred to a committee of which he was a member. Mr. Pope being a representative of the people making the petition, the committee requested him to draw the bill for the enabling act. This he did and in due course of time the committee was ready to report. On April 7, 1818, the committee reported the bill which had been drawn. The report was now referred to the committee of the whole in which the bill was taken up April 13. Here in committee of the whole was revealed the most far-seeing statesmanship of Mr. Pope. To understand this matter fully it will be necessary for us to recall some provisions in the Ordinance of 1787.

       The fifth article of the ordinance provided there should be made from the Northwest Territory not fewer than three nor more than five states; and the boundary of the westernmost state should be the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Wabash rivers and a line due north from Vincennes to the boundary between the United States and Canada. The middle as well as the easternmost state should extend to the Canada line. Provided, congress should have authority “to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southernly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan.”

       The latitude of the extreme southerly end of Lake Michigan is 41 degrees and 39 minutes, In the bill which Mr. Pope first drew the northern boundary of Illinois was put at 41 degrees and 39 minutes; but between the time that the bill was referred to the committee of the whole on the 7th of April and the day set for its consideration in committee of the whole, Mr. Pope made a discovery. He saw that if 41 degrees 39 minutes were made the northern boundary that the state P 130 when admitted would have no lake coast and would therefore be at a disadvantage in matters of trade and commerce on the lakes. So in the committee of the whole on the 13th of April, apparently without consulting anyone, Mr. Pope moved two amendments to the bill as formerly drawn by himself. One of these provided for the extension of the northern boundary from 41 degrees 39 minutes to 42 degrees and 30 minutes; the other provided for the application of three per cent of the sale of the public lands within the state of Illinois to the encouragement of learning, and two per cent to be used by congress in building roads leading into the state. This latter amendment was a farseeing measure and was readily agreed to by everyone. The first one was probably not so popular and Mr. Pope was under the necessity of inventing argument to prove the wisdom of his amendment.

       First. He argued that in confederacies there was always the danger of secession. Illinois was so situated—the Mississippi, Ohio, Wabash, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee rivers so bound Illinois to the south that in case of secession that Illinois would go with the southern states. Illinois geographically was needed to unify the commerce and trade of the region to the south and west of the Alleghenies. But if the line were pushed to the parallel of 42 degrees and 30 minutes, Illinois would have fifty or sixty miles of lake coast. And while the commerce of the lakes was unimportant now, the time would come when the port of Chicago would be like turning the Mississippi into the lake. And again if the northern line be made 42 degrees 30 minutes, it would give a strip fifty miles wide and reaching from Lake Michigan to the Mis­sissippi river. This strip of land would contain a population which would exert a very great influence in attaching the interests of Illinois to those of Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York.

       Second. The Mississippi ran unobstructed to the Gulf. The time would come when it would be very desirable that a waterway should be made connecting the Mississippi with Lake Michigan. The Illinois river presented the most feasible route and its head waters were in close proximity to the lake. If a canal were constructed connecting the lake with the Mississippi, through the Illinois river or by any other route, the state would be strongly attached to the lake route to the sea and much of the products of not only Illinois but of the adjacent states would find its way to the seaboard through the port of Chicago.

       Mr. Pope’s earnestness and clearness of presentation were convincing and the committee of the whole voted to recommend the passage of the bill as amended. On the 18th of April the bill passed and became a law. It will be profitable if we will study briefly the provisions of this Enabling Act.

       The act has seven sections. Let us examine each one:

       First. The people of the territory of Illinois are authorized to form a constitution, to assume any name they wish, and may be admitted into the union upon equal footing with the original states.

       Second. The boundary shall lie as follows: “Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash river; thence up the same, and with the line of Indiana, to the northwest corner of said state; thence east with the line of said state to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said lake, to north latitude 42 degrees and 30 minutes; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi river; thence down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio river; and thence up the latter river along its northwestern shore to the beginning. P 131

       Third. This section states the qualifications of those who shall vote for members of the constitutional convention. It also names the fifteen counties which shall send representatives to the said convention as follows: Bond, Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Jackson, Johnson, Pope, Gallatin, White, Edwards, Crawford, Union, Washington, and Franklin, The election day was set for the first Monday in July (6) and the two following days. The number of delegates to the convention was fixed two for each county except Madison, St. Clair, and Gallatin, which should have three each—thirty-three in all.

       Fourth. The day for the meeting of the convention was fixed for the first Monday in August. The form of government must be Republican, and there must be forty thousand inhabitants before the territory can be admitted as a state.

       Fifth. The state when admitted shall be entitled to one representative in congress.

       Sixth. The following propositions were offered to the convention:

       1. Section number 16 in each township which shall be for the benefit of the schools of that township.

       2. The gift of all salt springs within the state together with the lands reserved for them. These salt springs and land to be held by the legislature for the benefit of the state. The lands could not be sold, nor rented for a longer period than ten years at any one time.

       3. The state was offered five per cent of the net proceeds of the sale of public lands within the state; two per cent to be expended by congress in roads leading to the state and three per cent to be used by the state legislature in promoting learning.

       4. The state was offered a township of land to be used to found a seminary of learning.

       These four propositions or gifts were to be accepted and an ordinance passed and a guarantee given that all land sold by the general government within the limits of the state should be exempt from taxation for five years and that non-resident land holders shall be taxed no higher than those who live in the state.

       Seventh. All territory north of the north line of Indiana and north of the north line of Illinois should be attached to the Michigan territory for purposes of government.

       “No man ever rendered the state a more important service in congress than did Nathaniel Pope, to whom the people of Illinois are indebted for securing the passage of this enabling law, upon which he succeeded in ingrafting the important provisions set forth above. And if political rewards were meted out in proportion to the merits of the service rendered, the people’s representatives would with one accord have selected him as their senator in congress. Bright and steady as was his fame as a jurist, it would have paled before the brilliant luster of his career as a statesman.”

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

       As has been said, the Enabling Act became a law the 18th of April, 1818. The election of delegates to the constitutional convention was fixed for the first Monday in July, and the constitutional convention was to convene the first Monday in August. But the first thing to do was to take the census of the territory, and if it did not P 132 have the forty thousand then there would be no need for the convention. It was soon evident that the territory did not have the required number. The story is told that the marshal stationed his enumerators on the public highways and counted the travelers and immigrants, regardless of their destination. Not only this, but it is asserted that often the same traveler or immigrant was counted twice or even thrice. At last the enumerators returned forty thousand inhabitants, but as the returns were afterward footed up there were really only thirty-four thousand six hundred and twenty people in the proposed state. The delegates were duly elected and assembled at Kaskaskia on the first Monday in August. There were two subjects which were discussed in the canvass for delegates to the convention; one was the question of whether the constituency ought to have the right of instruction, and the other was the question of slavery.

       The following is a list of those who assembled as delegates:

St. Clair county—Jesse B. Thomas, John Messenger, James Lemen, Jr.

Randolph—George Fisher, Elias Kent Kane.

Madison—Benjamin Stephenson, Joseph Borough, Abraham Prickett.

Gallatin—Michael Jones, Leonard White, Adolphus Frederick Hubbard.

Johnson—Hezekiah West, Wm. McFatridge.

Edwards—Seth Gard, Levi Compton.

White—Willis Hargrave, Wm McHenry.

Monroe—Caidwell Cams, Enoch Moore.

Pope—Samuel O'Melveny, Hamlet Ferguson.

Jackson—Conrad Will, James Hall, Jr.

Crawford—Joseph Kitchell, Edward N. Cullom.

Bond—Thomas Kirkpatrick, Samuel J. Morse.

Union—William Eckols, John Whittaker.

Washington—Andrew Bankson (other delegate died during convention).

Franklin—Isham Harrison, Thomas Roberts.

       The convention met August 3, 1818, and finished its labors and adjourned August 26. Jesse B. Thomas from St. Claim county was elected chairman, and William C. Greenup was made secretary. Up to within the past year no one knew of a copy of the proceedings of the convention, but a copy has been found and is in the possession of the Illinois State Historical Library.

        The constitution was not submitted to the people for ratification and the only officers which the people might elect were: Governor, lieutenant governor, members of the general assembly, sheriffs, and coroners. The offices which were filled by appointment of either the governor or the general assembly were: Judges of the supreme, circuit and probate courts; prosecuting attorney, county clerk, circuit clerk, recorder, justice of the peace, auditor of public accounts, attorney general, secretary of state.

       Before taking up the elections under the constitution, let us make a brief study of the document. P 133

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1818

       The preamble to the constitution refers to the enabling act, quotes from the preamble of the constitution of the United States, and traces the boundaries of the state following the boundary lines as described in the enabling act.

       Before taking up the elections under the constitution, let us make a brief study of the document.

       Article one provides that all government power shall be exercised through three departments, namely: The legislative, the executive, the judicial.

       Article two vests the legislative authority in a general assembly which shall consist of a senate and a house of representatives. It also fixes qualifications of members of the two houses, states the modes by which bills may become laws. Section 27 reads—’ ‘In all elections all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the state six months next preceding the election, shall enjoy the right of an elector; but no person shall be entitled to vote except in the county or district in which he shall actually reside at the time of the election.”

       Article three vests the executive authority in a governor and other officers and defines their duties.

       Article four locates the judicial power in one supreme court and in such inferior courts as the legislature may from time to time ordain and establish.

       Article five creates and organizes the militia.

       Article six has three sections which are as follows:

           Section 1. Neither slavery or involuntary servitude shall hereafter be introduced into this state, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; nor shall any male person, arrived at the age of twenty-one years, nor female person arrived at the age of eighteen years, be held to serve any person as a servant, under any indenture hereafter made, unless such person shall enter into such indenture while in a state of perfect freedom, and on condition of a bona fide consideration received or to be received for their service. Nor shall any indenture of any negro or mulatto, hereafter made and executed out of this state, or if made in this state, where the term of service exceeds one year, be of the least validity, except those given in cases of apprenticeship.

          Section 2. No person bound, to labor in any other state, shall be hired to labor in this state, except within the tract reserved for the salt works near Shawneetown; nor even at that place for a longer period than one year at any one time; nor shall it be allowed there after the year 1825. Any violation of this article shall effect the emancipation of such person from his obligation to service.

          Section 3. Each and every person who has been bound to service by contract or indenture in virtue of the laws of Illinois territory heretofore existing, and in conformity to the provisions of the same, without fraud or collusion, shall be held to a specific performance of their contracts or indentures; and such negroes and mulat­toes as have been registered in conformity with the aforesaid laws, shall serve out the time appointed by said laws; provided, however, that the children hereafter born of such persons, negroes or mulattoes, shall become free, the males at the age of twenty-one years, the P 134 females at the age of eighteen years. Children born of indentured parents shall be entered with the clerk of the county in which they reside, by their owners, within six months after the birth of said child.

       Notice the wording in section one—’ ‘shall hereafter be introduced into this state.” Such a guarantee was necessary in order that the state might be admitted into the union. The consent of the negro was always necessary to a contract of indenture, and this was hereafter to be interpreted as “a state of perfect freedom.” Again indentures were of validity for only one year. It came to be customary for the man who had indentured slaves to take them across the Ohio and have them indentured yearly.

       Section two provides that slaves “hired” in slave states could be brought into the salt works at Shawneetown and held for one year. At the end of one year they could be hired again. But all this must stop by the year 1825.

       Section three provides that all negroes who were, at the making of the constitution, under an “indenture” must faithfully fulfill that contract. And children born of indentured parents were to be eventually free.

       The constitution in no way affected the slaves held by the French and their descendants. These provisions will be noted later as we have occasion to consider the laws passed by the legislatures of the coming years. Upon the whole the entire system of slavery and indentured service remained practically the same as under the territorial laws.

       Article seven provides for the amending of the constitution.

       Article eight contains a bill of rights. The bill contains twenty-three sections and covers all imaginable claims to protection which the individual might ever need.

       The schedule is a miscellaneous collection of provisions which could not easily be classified elsewhere.

       It is said that only five of the thirty-three members of the convention were lawyers. Most of them were farmers. Elias Kent Kane is understood to have been the leading spirit of the convention. The men were practical every day people, simple in their tastes and unlearned in the arts of the politician. It is not at all easily understood why such a body of men who were certainly democratic in their political ideals should clothe the governor with such extensive appointing power and thus virtually rob their fellow citizens of the right of franchise on many important offices. This feature of the constitution of 1818 was pernicious in that it fostered office seeking. The governor was hounded for positions and the members of the legislature often traded their votes for the support of a fellow member in the choice of some office holder.

       The convention was in session from August 3 to August 26, when the constitution was signed by the delegates. The day fixed by the constitution for the election of the officers provided for, was the third Thursday (the 17th) in September, and the two succeeding days—Friday and Saturday.

       At this election Shadrach Bond was chosen governor; Pierre Menard was elected lieutenant governor, and John McLean was elected the representative in congress. There were also elected fourteen senators and twenty-nine representatives.

       The legislature was called to meet at Kaskaskia the first Monday in October (the 5th). The first thing for this legislature was the canvass of the votes, and on Tuesday (the 6th), Governor Bond was inaugurated. The legislature proceeded to the election of two United States senators. The choice fell upon Ninian Edwards and Jesse B. Thomas. The legislature chose the following state officers: State treasurer, John Thomas; auditor, Elijah C. Berry; attorney general, Daniel P. Clark; supreme judges, Joseph Phillips, chief justice, William P. Foster, Thomas C. Brown, and John Reynolds. The governor appointed Elias Kent Kane as secretary of state.

       All this was done on the supposition that congress would accept the constitution and admit the state. However, the legislature adjourned on the thirteenth of October to await the action of congress. Mr. McLean, the newly elected congressman, was permitted to present the constitution but was not himself sworn in, as was said, “in consequence of congress not having concluded the act of admission of the state into the union.”

       A spirited opposition to the acceptance of the constitution arose on the ground that the constitution did not declare against slavery. The matter of its acceptance was referred to a committee of three—Richard Anderson, of Kentucky, George Poindexter and William Hendricks. This committee reported in favor of admitting the state. James Talmadge attacked the report, arguing that the constitution was very indefinite with regard to slavery. It neither prohibited slavery nor admitted it. He also opposed its admission on the ground that there was no evidence that there were forty thousand people within the hints of the state. Mr. Harrison and Mr. Poindexter made spirited replies and upon the vote it was admitted by 117 to 34. On the third of December the senate concurred and the President signed the bill. The senators and congressmen were sworn in, and Illinois was a full fledged sovereign state.