Constitution of Indiana
Encyclopedia
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
had agreed to grant statehood. The delegates approved the constitution 33-8. In preparing Indiana's fundamental law they borrowed heavily from existing state constitutions, especially those of Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. The original constitution was adopted without being submitted to the people. The current constitution is the Constitution of 1851, with numerous amendments.
Constitution of 1816
On May 6, 1816, the United States Congress passed an enabling act granting Indiana permission to form a government and join the Union as a state. Slavery in Indiana was a major issues in the territory in those days and the abolitionists had been preparing for statehood with the hopes on instituting a constitutional ban on slavery.Constitutional Convention
Corydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
, the territorial capitol, to write a constitution for the state. All but two counties were represented. The delegation included Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings was the first Governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in Readington, New Jersey, he studied law with his brother before immigrating to Indiana in 1806 where he took part in land speculation...
, who presided over the convention, William Hendricks
William Hendricks
William Hendricks was a Democratic-Republican member of the House of Representatives from 1816 to 1822, the third Governor of Indiana from 1822 to 1825, and an Anti-Jacksonian member of the U.S. Senate from 1825 to 1837. He led much of his family into politics and founded one of the largest...
, who served as secretary, Dennis Pennington
Dennis Pennington
Dennis Pennington was an early legislator in Indiana and the Indiana Territory, speaker of the first Indiana State Senate, speaker of the territorial legislature, a member of the Whig Party serving over 37 years in public office, and one of the founders of Indiana. He was also a stonemason and...
, Davis Floyd
Davis Floyd
Davis Floyd was an Indiana Jeffersonian Republican politician who was convicted of aiding American Vice President Aaron Burr in the Burr conspiracy. Floyd was not convicted of treason however and returned to public life after several years working to redeem his reputation...
, Ratliff Boon
Ratliff Boon
Ratliff Boon was the second Governor of Indiana from September 12 to December 5, 1822, taking office following the resignation of Governor Jonathan Jennings' after his election to Congress...
, and Noah Noble
Noah Noble
Noah Noble was the fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1831 to 1837. His two terms focused largely on internal improvements, culminating in the passage of the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act, which was viewed at the time as his crowning achievement...
among others. The majority of the members were associated with the anti-governor and anti-slavery faction that controlled the territorial legislature. Throughout June 1816 the delegates worked on the constitution. The summer heat often cause the delegation to move outdoors and work beneath the shade of a giant elm tree which would later be called the Constitution Elm and made a memorial, the trunk is still preserved.
The delegates authored and adopted the constitution by a simply majority vote. It was not submitted to the public for ratification.
Summary and features
Indiana's 1816 constitution was very similar to that of the American states in that organized the government into a republican form and created a basic framework for the functions of government. Instead of being specific on most individual issues, it broadly defined principles and enabled the state to function as a loosely bound unit. Large parts of the constitutions of Kentucky and Ohio were copied verbatim. The few alterations made to their formula resulted in the legislative branch being dominant over the executive and judicial. The legislature was set to meet annually, an elections would be held annually to elect representatives; senators elected every three years. The governor served terms of three years, and was limited to two consecutive terms. The governor's vetoes could be overridden by a simple majorityMajority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
vote of the legislature. The judicial branch and its districts were to be created and adjusted by the legislature; the governor appointed the judges to server seven year terms with the confirmation of the senate.
Article One of the constitution contained a bill of rights conferring many of the same rights as the United States Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
. "The People" were explicitly noted as being the sovereigns of the state Voting rights were granted to all white males over twenty-one years of age who had lived in the state for one year. All white men age 18 to 45 were required to serve in the militia when called upon to do so, while non-whites were explicitly denied entrance into the militia. The constitution placed a ban on slavery and involuntary servitude, but did allow for existing indenturing arrangements to continue.
The central item which was new to American constitutions was a liberal clause ordering the creation of a "general system education, ascending in regular gradation from township schools to a state university wherein tuition shall be gratis and equally open to all." This was a significant alteration and expansion of the education clauses of the template constitutions used during the convention.
Criticisms and controversies over the new constitution were quick to arise. The constitution did not require secret ballots to be held and granted the legislature power to institute whatever form of balloting they chose. The issue was a political football
Political football
A political football is a political topic or issue that is continually debated but left unresolved. The term is used often during a political election campaign to highlight issues that have not been completely addressed, such as the natural environment and abortion.There are many reasons that an...
for many years with factions alleging that the other intended to end the secret ballot. As early as 1820 propositions were made to replace the constitution. Opponents criticized it because it made most government positions filled by appointment. It also only allowed local officials to be removed from office by impeachment through the General Assembly. As political parties developed in the state they abused the process by removing opponents and preventing the removal of allies from office for political reasons. The process of impeachment was time consuming, and tended to dominate legislative sessions, preventing more important matters from being dealt with. Observers of the time suggested that a different process for removing officials be adopted and the power taken from the legislature.
Others who sought to improve public education were unhappy with the current constitution by giving too much authority to the state. With the state's troubled finances over the last decade, school became a low priority on the state's budget. They sought to give the local level more power over the schools while leaving the state in charge of funding which would be required.
Another cause that led to the new constitution was the rapid immigration into the state in the 1840s. The Irish Famine and the European revolutions had led to a large influx of Irish and German immigrants. The 1816 constitution allowed only for US citizens, who had been citizens for five years, to vote or run for office. At that time, citizenship took several years, so Indiana had hundreds of thousands of residents who could not vote because the federal government was slow in granting citizenship which, in the end, added to the five additional years the state imposed.
Democrats and Whigs had opposing views over the interpretation of the amendment clause of the constitution. It required that the public be consulted by poll every twelve years to decide if the constitution should be replaced. Democrats believed a convention to revise the constitution could be called at will by the legislature, while Whigs believed an attempt to replace the consideration could only be made once every twelve years. In the early state history when Whigs were dominate, few attempts were made to alter the constitution. Between 1816 and 1849 the public voted five times against replacing or amending the constitution, generally by large margins. The legislature voted against doing so fourteen times during the same period.
The most common recurring theme of the attempts to change the constitution were to structurely change the legislature by lengthening terms and decreasing the number of legislative sessions. All government officials could only be removed from office if impeached by the legislature, and parties in power generally refused to impeach their own members. Calls to remedy this in the constitution were frequently made. A third issue was limiting the power of the legislature and granting more power to local legislative authorities.
In 1846, a referendum to call a convention won by plurality on the ballot. There was general debate about whether a convention could be called, but it was finally decided by the General Assembly that a convention could only be called if a majority of all voters supported the measure.
Delegates
| County | Name | Convention office |
|---|---|---|
| Clark | Thomas Carr, Sr. | |
| Clark | John K. Graham | |
| Clark | James Lemen James Lemen James Lemen Sr. was an American justice of the peace and minister who was a leader of the anti-slavery movement in Indiana Territory in the early nineteenth century.... |
|
| Clark | Jonathan Jennings Jonathan Jennings Jonathan Jennings was the first Governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in Readington, New Jersey, he studied law with his brother before immigrating to Indiana in 1806 where he took part in land speculation... |
President |
| Clark | James Scott | |
| Dearborn | James Dill | |
| Dearborn | Exra Ferris | |
| Dearborn | Solomon Manwaring | |
| Franklin | James Brownlee | |
| Franklin | William E. Eads | |
| Franklin | Robert Hanna Robert Hanna Robert Hanna was the third Senator for Indiana, succeeding James Noble on the latter's death. Hanna was born near Fountainius in Laurens District, South Carolina, before moving to Brookville, Indiana, in 1802... |
|
| Franklin | Enoch McCarty | |
| Franklin | James Noble James Noble James Noble was the first U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Indiana.Noble was born near Berryville, Virginia and moved with his parents to Campbell County, Kentucky when he was 10... |
|
| Harrison | Davis Floyd Davis Floyd Davis Floyd was an Indiana Jeffersonian Republican politician who was convicted of aiding American Vice President Aaron Burr in the Burr conspiracy. Floyd was not convicted of treason however and returned to public life after several years working to redeem his reputation... |
|
| Harrison | Daniel C. Lane | |
| Harrison | Jeremiah Cox | |
| Harrison | Dennis Pennington Dennis Pennington Dennis Pennington was an early legislator in Indiana and the Indiana Territory, speaker of the first Indiana State Senate, speaker of the territorial legislature, a member of the Whig Party serving over 37 years in public office, and one of the founders of Indiana. He was also a stonemason and... |
|
| Harrison | Patrick Shields | |
| Gibson | Alexander Devin | |
| Gibson | Fredrick Rapp | |
| Gibson | David Robb | |
| Gibson | James Smith | |
| Jefferons | Natheniel Hunt | |
| Jefferson | David H. Maxwell | |
| Jefferson | Samuel Smock | |
| Jefferson | William Hendricks William Hendricks William Hendricks was a Democratic-Republican member of the House of Representatives from 1816 to 1822, the third Governor of Indiana from 1822 to 1825, and an Anti-Jacksonian member of the U.S. Senate from 1825 to 1837. He led much of his family into politics and founded one of the largest... |
Secretary |
| Knox | John Benefiel | |
| Knox | John Johnson | |
| Knox | William Polk | |
| Knox | Benjamin Parke Benjamin Parke Benjamin Parke was a 19th-century American soldier and politician in the Indiana Territory and later state of Indiana.-Biography:... |
|
| Knox | John Badollet | |
| Perry | Charles Pole | |
| Posey | Dann Lynn | |
| Switzerland | William Cotton | |
| Warrick | Daniel Grass | |
| Washington | John Depauw | |
| Washington | William Graham | |
| Washington | William Lowe | |
| Washington | Samuel Milroy | |
| Washington | Robert McIntrye | |
| Wayne | Patrick Beard | |
| Wayne | Jeremiah Cox | |
| Wayne | Hugh Cull | |
| Wayne | Joseph Holman |
Constitution of 1851
A crisis in the state during the 1840s due to overspending led the state become insolvent. The situation and the call for constitutional changed to prevent a reoccurrence of the events finally made constitutional change popular among the public. In response to the growing criticism a constitutional referendum was held in 1850. Two years before the required twelve year referendum. The vote came out 81,500 for and 57,418 against reforming the constitution. That year the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation to provide for the election of 150 delegates, with representation from each county, apportioned according the district makeup of the state, to be elected to attend a convention to write a new state constitution.Constitutional Convention
The 150 delegates were elected in the 1850 election and the convention was convened in Hall of Representatives at the Statehouse in IndianapolisIndianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, 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
Alvin P. Hovey
Alvin Peterson Hovey was a Union general during the American Civil War, an Indiana Supreme Court justice, congressman, and the 21st Governor of Indiana from 1889 to 1891. During the war he played an important role in several battles and uncovered a secret plot for an uprising in Indiana...
. Chief Justice Isaac Blackford
Isaac Blackford
Isaac Newton Blackford was the second Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, the court's longest serving Justice, and among the longest serving jurists in the history of the United States. He wrote an eight volume work entitled Blackford's Reports recording all the early decisions of the court...
swore the members in, 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
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
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 were 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 by 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
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
were used as referenced, their states having already dealt with similar issues. The resulting constitution was Jacksonian, and significantly expanded the democratic principles.
Adoption
The new constitution was written in several different sections. When the constitution was submitted to the public to vote for, they could vote on each section, meaning that all, part, or none of the constitution could be approved. Some sections that were approved in the convention were voted down by the public, including a clause allowing universal suffrage regardless of race or sex.The constitution was submitted to the general public in the election of 1851 and immediately went into effect and has since remained the highest law in Indiana. The present elected government was permitted to retain their seats, but had to swear an oath to uphold the new constitution until a new government could be elected.
Clauses
Because no divorce clause was included in the original constitution the legislature had had to grant divorces on a case by case basis. This, and other issues were delegated to the courts and clerks. With the anticipated reduction in workload the General Assembly was changed to meet biennially rather than annually. Terms were extended for all elected offices, representatives to two years, senators to four, and governors to four years.To remedy the state's suffrage problem, voter rights were granted to any naturalized or native white male citizen who had reached the age of 21. This gave the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of voters who previously had been ineligible to vote. Women's rights were also greatly expanded in the new constitution. Married women were granted the right to own private property, and also granted the right to jointly own property with her husband.
The most controversial clause in the new constitution was the ban placed on allowing blacks to immigrate to Indiana. The proponents of the ban pushed it as a punishment to the southern states for their treatment of blacks. It was claimed that because the southern states had put blacks into their present condition, that they should be responsible for their welfare.
The Courts were reorganized and the supreme court was made an elective body. Their terms were extended to seven years. To prevent the legislature from interfering in local affairs, as and become common, the General Assembly was banned from creating legislation that would not be applied to the entire state.
Another clause dealt with the Bank of Indiana
Bank of Indiana
The state Bank of Indiana was a government chartered banking institution established in 1833 in response to the state's shortage of capital caused by the closure of the Second Bank of the United States by the administration of President Andrew Jackson...
. It barred the bank's charter from being extended and put a ban on the creation of another similar bank. One of the most important changes was the abandonment of the short ballot. More public positions were made electable like the Secretary of State, and Attorney General. These changes were pushed through by the Whig minority in a hope to break the Democratic hold on power.
Education was the focus of several sections of the constitution. The clauses dealt primarily with forcing the state government to adequately fund local schools while providing boards of local residents to manage the funds and the schools. It also created a state superintendent and gave state some authority in setting curriculum. The constitution also officially adopted Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
as the state's seminary, guaranteeing it state funding.
Criticisms
The early criticism of the constitution was its lax voter regulations. From the time of its adoptions until 1917, Indiana was frequently the victim of voter fraud. A 1917 amendment put voter registration rules in place and also granted suffrage to women.The clauses banning black immigration immediately came under criticism and was ruled unconstitutional in the Supreme Court case of Smith v. Moody in 1861. The whole of article thirteen, which contained several other restrictions on blacks, was repealed by and amended in 1881. The final barrier, banning blacks from joining the militia, was removed in 1963, the same year the Indiana Civil Rights Act was passed into law.
Another problem was the organization of the courts. The supreme court became overloaded with cases and an appellate court was created at the turn of the century. During the 1970s a series of amendments were enacted to make the court constitutional and to reform the method of electing Supreme Court Justices. Justices were again made appointed positions, a list of candidates was created by the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission
Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission
The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, which also serves as the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission, is a seven member panel chosen by the Indiana Bar Association and the Governor of Indiana to select judges to serve on the Indiana Circuit Court, Indiana Court of Appeals, and the...
and submitted to the governor who then choose one. The Justice could then serve two years before being subjected to a retention election, if he was retained he could continue his term for up to ten years.
During the 1970s it became apparent that the General Assembly was not able to complete all their work in the time allotted by the constitution. An amendment was passed that allowed the General Assembly to meet annually. The long session, which occurred the year after the election was left the same allowing the body to continue meeting for 61 days, but on the following year the assembly was authorized to meet again for a thirty day period.
Preamble
The changes in society and the concerns can be noted by the comparison of the preambles to the original 1816 constitution, and the current constitution. The preamble to the original 1816 constitution read:The preamble of the current constitution reads:
Articles
The Constitution consists of a preamble and 16 articles. They are as follows:- Bill of Rights
- Suffrage and Election
- Distribution of Powers
- Legislative
- Executive
- Administrative
- Judicial
- Education
- State Institutions
- Finance
- Corporations
- Militia
- Indebtedness
- Boundaries
- Miscellaneous
- Amendments
General provisions
- The entire article 3 is the shortest provision of the entire constitution, having one section consisting of one sentence
- Article 5, Section 1, provides that the governorGovernor of IndianaThe Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
may not serve more than 8 years in any twelve-year period. - Article 5, Section 8, prohibits anyone holding federal office from being governor.
- Article 7, Section 2, declares the state Supreme CourtSupreme Court of IndianaThe Supreme Court of Indiana is the state supreme court of Indiana. The court was established by Article Seven of the Indiana Constitution and is the highest judicial authority within Indiana...
to have one Chief Justice and not less than four nor more than eight associate justices. - Article 7, Section 15, provides that the four-year term limit for elective office set forth in article 15, section 2 does not apply to judges and justices.
- Article 9 provides for the state to create and fund "education of the deaf, the mute, and the blind; and for the treatment of the insane" and "institutions for the correction and reformation of juvenile offenders" but provides that counties may "provide farms, as an asylum for those persons who, by reason of age, infirmity, or other misfortune, have claims upon the sympathies and aid of society."
- Article 12, Section 1, declares the militiaMilitiaThe term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
to be "all persons over the age of seventeen (17) years, except those persons who may be exempted by the laws of the United States or of this state". - Article 13 currently only has one section, (sections 2 through 4 having been repealed) limiting indebtedness of municipal corporations to two percent of the property tax base except in the event of a war or certain other defined emergencies, if requested by petition of certain property owners in the area.
- Article 15, Section 2, provides for creation by law of offices not defined by the constitution, and where someone is appointed, may be for a term "at the pleasure of the appointing authority" but elected offices may not have a term longer than four years.
- Article 15, Section 7, prohibits making any county less than 400 square miles (1,036 km²) or reducing the size of any existing county which is smaller than this.
One of the most important provisions in the first state constitution of 1816 was Article 8, Section 1, which expressly forbid the introduction of slavery in the state and was written in such a way to prevent slavery from ever being permitted in the state, even forbidding the anti-slavery clause to be changed by constitutional amendment. The section said the constitution could be amended for any reason "But, as the holding any part of the human Creation in slavery, or involuntary servitude, can only originate in usurpation and tyranny, no alteration of this constitution shall ever take place so as to introduce slavery or involuntary servitude in this State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." This part of the constitution was retained into the new constitution written in 1851, as would have been unconstitutional to remove it.