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Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1861–1863

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connection with a Southern confederacy is annihilation for Missouri. The true position for her to assume is that of a State whose interests are bound up in the maintenance of the Union, and whose kind feelings and strong sympathies are with the people of the Southern States with whom they are connected by ties of friendship and blood.
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The convention held its fourth session time in Jefferson City in June 1862. In this session, the convention imposed its loyalty oath on teachers, attorneys, bank officers, and preachers, and on voters, thereby ensuring a strong Union vote in future elections. (Lincoln, who had received 10.3% of the
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The constitutional convention met for the third time in St. Louis on 10 October 1861. It abolished many state offices, cut the salaries of state employees by 20 percent, postponed the planned state election to August 1862, created provisions for a new pro-Union state militia, and enacted a loyalty
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The position of Missouri in relation to the adjacent States which would continue in the Union, would necessarily expose her, if she became a member of a new confederacy, to utter destruction whenever any rupture might take place between the different republics. In a military aspect, secession and
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Lyon then marched his forces on Jefferson City, entering the undefended state capital on 15 June. The executive committee of the convention called a new session to meet on July 22. Twenty of the members were now in retreat with Jackson and Price (the original chairman). Pro-Union vice chairman
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declared free all slaves in Confederate-held territory, but not those in Union-held territory such as states that had not seceded. The final session of the convention met in June 1863 with the aim of eliminating slavery in the state. The major obstacle was a provision in the constitution that
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and Union authorities, and Union forces occupied the state capital, the convention formed a provisional state government, and functioned as a quasi-legislature for several years. The convention never did produce a new constitution; that task was delegated to a new convention, elected in 1864.
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infuriated the Radical Republicans, who wanted slavery abolished immediately. They took their grievances to Lincoln, who refused to take sides in the dispute. Provisional governor Gamble offered to resign, but the convention would not accept it. He died in office on 31 January 1864.
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That at present there is no adequate cause to impel Missouri to dissolve her connection with the Federal Union, but on the contrary she will labor for such an adjustment of existing troubles as will secure the peace, as well as the rights and equality of all the
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A third group opposed immediate secession, but was willing to consider secession unless the various slavery-related political questions were resolved on terms acceptable to the slave states. These men were "conditional unionists".
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Governor Jackson rejected the request, declaring it to be illegal, arguing that the constitution gave no authority to the federal government to make war on the states. On 20 April secessionist militia companies seized the
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The bill calling the convention passed on 17 January. The election was scheduled for 18 February, with three delegates chosen from each state senate district (99 total). In addition, by an amendment submitted by
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The remaining convention members declared all of the state's elective offices to be vacant and appointed pro-Union provisional officers, some of whom were not even in the state at the time. These included:
201:. The following day Abraham Lincoln declared a state of rebellion existed and called for the states to provide troops to put down rebellion. This included a request for several regiments from Missouri. 254:, which lasted until Lyon replaced Harney. Lyon met with Governor Jackson and General Price. He gave them one hour to leave the city, telling them he intended to seize control of the state from them. 78:
The 1820 constitution provided for minor revisions to be made by amendment, but required that any general revision be carried out by an elected special convention. When secession was proposed, the
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Missouri could remain inactive and effectively neutral, as long there was no fighting between the Union and the Confederacy. However, on 13–14 April, Confederate forces bombarded and captured
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The Radicals also arranged for elections to a new constitutional convention. In November 1864, the Radicals won two-thirds of the seats to the convention, which elected Radical leader
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The convention also declared all offices of the Missouri General Assembly vacant, and ordered an election to be held in November to fill the executive and legislative offices.
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on 6 January 1865. On 11 January, the convention, by a 60 to 4 vote, abolished slavery in the state with no compensation for owners. A month later the convention approved the
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required consent of the slave's owner and payment of compensation. The state did not have enough money to do so. Therefore, the convention passed an ordinance for
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This drastic action prompted the General Assembly to pass a military bill proposed by Governor Jackson, which reorganized the militia as the
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as chairman. The committee declared that while most Missourians might sympathize with the South, secession from the Union was too dangerous.
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to abolish slavery throughout the U.S. The convention also wrote a new constitution for the state, which remained in force until 1875.
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Law Matters: A Celebration of Two Constitutions by Missouri Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff - Your Missouri Courts - September 9, 2005
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and incoming governor Jackson had declared that Missouri should remain neutral in any conflict between the Union and Confederacy.
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Three groups contended for the convention seats. One group called for Missouri to follow the Deep South slave states such as
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Journal and Proceedings of the Missouri State Convention Held at Jefferson City and St. Louis, March 1861
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Journal and Proceedings of the Missouri State Convention Held at Jefferson City and St. Louis, March 1861
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for Missouri. Lincoln rescinded it as a dangerous measure that would alienate unionists in Missouri and
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Lincoln's inaction became a grievance for the Radicals, and in the election of 1864, they nominated
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for President, hoping to replace Lincoln. (Frémont dropped out of the campaign a few weeks later).
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JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE Missouri State Convention, HELD AT JEFFERSON CITY AND ST. LOUIS
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Gathman, Allen, "March 19, 1861: Missouri Convention rejects secession", March 19, 2011
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The convention established a Federal relations committee, with unconditional unionist
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On March 19 the convention voted 89-1 against secession. The convention resolved:
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reacted on 10 May surrounding the militia and taking them prisoner in the
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Another group opposed secession at any time; they were called
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The convention then adjourned, and reassembled on 4 March in
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On 1 March, the convention chose as chairman former governor
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by declaring secession immediately - not even waiting for
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Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
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The two unionist factions won nearly all the seats.
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Governor Jackson plotted to seize the 502: 500: 403: 57:1820 (when the state entered the Union) 354:gradual emancipation with compensation 494:, George Knapp & Co., 1861, p. 36 480:http://gathkinsons.net/sesqui/?p=2265 470:, George Knapp & Co., 1861, p. 46 298:The convention adjourned on July 31. 118:At that time, both outgoing governor 53:Missouri has had four constitutions: 7: 1111: 1144:American constitutional conventions 1139:Missouri in the American Civil War 581:Missouri in the American Civil War 14: 360:Constitutional convention of 1865 1110: 1101: 1100: 507:Violette, Eugene Morrow (1918). 1164:1861 establishments in Missouri 185:The convention then adjourned. 1: 457:St. Louis Mercantile Timeline 101:to take office as President. 647:Price's Missouri Expedition 243:as commander of the Guard. 1185: 386:The convention met in the 149:, a conditional unionist. 1159:Legal history of Missouri 1096: 383:as governor of Missouri. 349:Emancipation Proclamation 80:Missouri General Assembly 22:constitutional convention 1149:Constitution of Missouri 120:Robert Marcellus Stewart 1154:Provisional governments 605:Harney–Price Convention 600:Capture of Camp Jackson 381:Thomas Clement Fletcher 106:unconditional unionists 320:, received 70% in the 183: 170: 685:Battle of Dug Springs 510:A History of Missouri 316:Missouri vote in the 282:Secretary of State - 272:Hamilton Rowan Gamble 262:became the chairman. 178: 174:Hamilton Rowan Gamble 165: 42:Claiborne Fox Jackson 24:held in the state of 366:gradual emancipation 290:George Caleb Bingham 239:. 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Index

constitutional convention
Missouri
American Civil War
secession
Confederate
Claiborne Fox Jackson
Reconstruction
Pendergast Machine
Missouri General Assembly
Charles H. Hardin
South Carolina
Abraham Lincoln
unconditional unionists
Robert Marcellus Stewart
Jefferson City
Virginia
Kentucky
Sterling Price
Mercantile Library
St. Louis
Hamilton Rowan Gamble
Fort Sumter
South Carolina
U.S. Arsenal
Liberty, Missouri
St. Louis Arsenal
U.S. Army
Nathaniel Lyon
Camp Jackson Affair
Missouri State Guard

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