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84-441: The office was created by 1817 Constitution of Mississippi as a legislatively-elected position with a one-year term. In 1832 the office was made popularly-elective and the term was extended. All attorneys general from 1878 to 2020 were Democrats . The incumbent attorney general, Republican Lynn Fitch , was sworn-in to office on January 9, 2020. The 1817 Constitution of Mississippi provided for an attorney general to be elected by

168-522: A veto over whether their western counties could become states. The clause has since served the same function each time that a proposal to partition an existing state or states has arisen. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1: New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by

252-551: A "great evil" as they did in the late 18th century, but rather, in the words of 19th century South Carolinian Democrat John C. Calhoun , a "positive good". As a result of this shift, laws began to be passed throughout Southern slave states that restricted the emancipation of slaves, something that was somewhat common during the late 18th century around the time of the American Revolution, where slave owners such as Edward Coles and Robert Carter freed their slaves using

336-554: A common historic practice, but several states were admitted to the Union without one. In many instances, an enabling act would detail the mechanism by which the territory would be admitted as a state after the ratification of their constitution and the election of state officers. Although the use of such an act is a traditional historic practice, several territories have drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act but were subsequently admitted. The broad outline for

420-599: A convention to replace the 1868 constitution. On March 11, 1890, Mississippi's Democratic governor, John M. Stone , declared that on July 29 an election was to be held to select delegates to attend the constitutional convention, which would begin in August. However, as the state government was solidly controlled by the Democrats by this point, the result of the delegate election was that of the constitutional convention's 134 delegates that were elected, 133 were white, and only one

504-455: A convention. In use for 22 years, the 1868 constitution was the first in the history of the state to have been approved by popular consent, when it was sent to the people at large for their ratification. It was also the first state constitution of Mississippi to have been created by both African American and white delegates. The 1868 constitution banned slavery, which had been legal under the two previous state constitutions, extended citizenship,

588-443: A part of New York and was not admitted until New York consented); two large additions to Nevada , which became a state in 1864, were made in 1866 and 1867. There have been numerous minor adjustments to state boundaries over the years as a result of improved surveys, resolution of ambiguous or disputed boundary definitions, or minor mutually agreed boundary adjustments for administrative convenience or other purposes. One notable example

672-588: A rate higher than residents; and would have a republican form of government . Jefferson's original draft of the ordinance gave names to the proposed states and contained a provision that "After the year 1800 there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of them." The 1784 ordinance was superseded three years later by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Enacted by the Confederation Congress on July 13, 1787, it created

756-464: A replacement of the 1890 constitution, on the grounds that it is morally repugnant due to its discriminatory history, and have noted it contains clauses detrimental to the state's monetary commerce and businesses enacted by Democrats to prevent private companies from out of state hiring African-American workers in Mississippi, one of the vestiges of the segregationist era . The 1817 constitution

840-493: Is a white man's country and the white men must govern it." It even referred to itself as "The White Man's Party". Due to Mississippi's large African American population, which comprised nearly 58 percent of the state's total population at the time, many Republican candidates would have been elected into office in most elections, were they free and fair and held without outside interference from white supremacist terrorists and Democrat-sponsored paramilitaries. The second reason for

924-413: Is forbidden by law from providing counsel to defendants in criminal cases. Only their office can bring or defend a lawsuit on behalf of the state, though they may retain private counsel to work on their own behalf in such instances. They are also empowered to appoint special investigations and prosecutors to try criminal cases on behalf of the state, and may—at their own discretion—assume responsibility for

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1008-506: Is still in effect today, many of its original tenets and sections have since been modified or repealed; most of these were in response to U.S. Supreme Court rulings such as Harper v. Virginia , that declared most of these sections to have violated the United States Constitution. In the decades since its adoption, several Mississippi governors have advocated replacing the constitution, however, despite heated debates in

1092-419: Is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Mississippi delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government . Mississippi's original constitution was adopted at a constitutional convention held at Washington, Mississippi in advance of the western portion of the territory 's admission to the Union in 1817. The current state constitution was adopted in 1890 following

1176-641: Is under no obligation to admit states, even in those areas whose population expresses a desire for statehood. In one instance, Mormon pioneers in Salt Lake City sought to establish the state of Deseret in 1849. It existed for slightly over two years and was never approved by the Congress. In 1905, leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) in Indian Territory proposed to establish

1260-515: The Mississippi State Legislature for a one-year term. The legislature elected Mississippi's first attorney general, Lyman Harding, on January 21, 1818. Under the constitution of 1832, the term was extended to four years and the officer was made popularly-elective. The 1890 state constitution maintained the attorney general of Mississippi as a popularly-elected executive official with a four-year term. The document also made

1344-575: The Northwest Territory , the first organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Northwest Ordinance (Article V) provided for the admission of several new states from within its bounds: There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three nor more than five States [...] And, whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into

1428-664: The equal footing doctrine. With the growth of states' rights advocacy during the antebellum period , the Supreme Court asserted, in Lessee of Pollard v. Hagan (1845), that the Constitution mandated admission of new states on the basis of equality. Historically, most new states formed by Congress have been established from an organized incorporated U.S. territory, created and governed by Congress in accord with its plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of

1512-463: The reconstruction period . It has been amended and updated 100 times in since its adoption in 1890, with some sections being changed or repealed altogether. The most recent modification to the constitution occurred in November 2020, when Section 140 was amended, and Sections 141-143 were repealed. Since becoming a state, Mississippi has had four constitutions. The first one was used until 1832, when

1596-523: The 1838 constitution, and exist today. The 1832 constitution, like the 1817 one that preceded it, prohibited the Mississippi Legislature from passing any laws designed to set free people from slavery, unless the slave had committed a "distinguished" deed to the benefit of the state, or had the consent of the owner, who was to be monetarily compensated for the emancipation of the slave: The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for

1680-528: The 1895 South Carolinian constitution is still in use today. The 1890 constitution effectively granted the Democrat-controlled Mississippi government free rein to prevent almost all African Americans from voting and casting ballots, in addition to forcing them to attend separate schools (almost always deliberately of substandard quality), forbidding them to marry people of other ethnic groups, or bear arms for self-defense. In

1764-434: The 1950s and 1960s, following investigations by the United States government, these discriminatory provisions were ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court to have violated the rights guaranteed to American citizens under the tenets of the U.S. Constitution , thus rendering them legally unenforcable. However, it would take 20 years to formally remove them from the state's constitution, which was done when they were finally repealed in

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1848-433: The 1970s and 1980s by the state government, nearly a century after they were enacted. There have been legislative efforts to replace the Mississippi constitution that was adopted in 1890 (which has since had over 100 subsequent modifications and amendments) with a new one - notably in the 1930s and 1950s - but ultimately, such efforts have been unsuccessful as of 2021. Several Mississippi politicians have opined in favor of

1932-476: The American Enlightenment principles of the colonial revolutionaries as their inspiration. Abraham Lincoln noticed this shift in ideology, writing in an 1855 letter to a friend that: ... Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal'. We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes'. When

2016-659: The Attorney General of Mississippi is split into 16 divisions. The main facilities of the attorney general and their staff are located in Jackson , though a satellite office is maintained in Biloxi and another is planned to be opened in Oxford . As of February 2023, the agency employs about 300 people, including attorneys and law enforcement officers. Constitution of Mississippi The Constitution of Mississippi

2100-898: The Christian Holy Bible . Admission to the Union Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 , which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that already existed when the Constitution came into effect . The Constitution went into effect on June 21, 1788, in

2184-513: The Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government: Provided, the constitution and government so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be fewer free inhabitants in

2268-422: The Constitution. In some cases, an entire territory became a state; in others some part of a territory became a state. In most cases, the organized government of a territory made known the sentiment of its population in favor of statehood, usually by referendum. Congress then empowered that government to organize a constitutional convention to write a state constitution . Upon acceptance of that constitution, by

2352-840: The Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. Between 1781 and 1789, the United States was governed by a unicameral Congress, the Congress of the Confederation , which operated under authority granted to it by the Articles of Confederation , the nation's first constitution. The 11th Article authorized Congress to admit new states to

2436-474: The Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics'. When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be take pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy. ... This shift in opinion hardened Southerners' and Democrats' actions in

2520-531: The Northwest Territory, Southwest Territory, and Mississippi Territory ; the 1791 cession by Maryland and Virginia of land to create the District of Columbia (Virginia's portion was returned in 1847); and the creation, on at least three occasions, of a new state ( Kentucky , Maine and West Virginia ) from a region of an existing state (Vermont was created from what was disputedly claimed to be

2604-658: The State of Mississippi. With the defeat of the Confederacy at the hands of the Union in the American Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified to outlaw slavery throughout the United States. As a result, the 1868 constitution of Mississippi was the state's first one to ban slavery throughout the state: There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this State, otherwise than in

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2688-529: The State than sixty thousand. While the Articles of Confederation were in effect, the Congress considered various ordinances admitting particular new states into the Union, none of which were approved: Considered one of the most important legislative acts of the Confederation Congress, the Northwest Ordinance established the precedent by which the Federal government would be sovereign and expand westward with

2772-556: The U.S. Congress. Four years later, with the victory of Union forces at the end of the American Civil War , slavery was abolished via the newly enacted Thirteenth Amendment . Mississippi held a constitutional convention in 1865. A new Mississippi constitution was created in May 1868 that bestowed citizenship and civil rights upon newly freed slaves in the state. Mississippi regained its congressional representation after it

2856-465: The Union has been delayed by complicating factors. Among them, Michigan Territory , which petitioned Congress for statehood in 1835, was not admitted to the Union until 1837, because of a boundary dispute with the adjacent state of Ohio. The independent Republic of Texas requested annexation to the United States in 1837, but fears about potential conflict with Mexico delayed the admission of Texas for nine years. Also, statehood for Kansas Territory

2940-466: The Union provided nine states consented. Under the Articles, each state cast one vote on each proposed measure in Congress. During this period, the Confederation Congress enacted two ordinances governing the admission of new states into the Union. The first such ordinance was the Land Ordinance of 1784, enacted April 23, 1784. Thomas Jefferson was its principal author. The ordinance called for

3024-478: The United States Bill of Rights, it specified the rights that all residents of the state held. The 1868 constitution's preamble stated the purpose of the constitution's creation and adoption, which was given as, the establishment and perpetuation of "justice", "public order", "right", "liberty" and "freedom": To the end that justice be established, public order maintained, and liberty perpetuated, we,

3108-425: The admission of new states, rather than with the expansion of existing states and their established sovereignty under the Articles of Confederation. No new states were formed in the Northwest Territory under either ordinance. In 1789, the 1st United States Congress reaffirmed the Northwest Ordinance with slight modifications. The Northwest Territory remained in existence until 1803, when the southeastern portion of it

3192-600: The bottom of the Universe. ... We came here to exclude the Negro . Nothing short of this will answer. Another delegate, a Bolivar County planter by the name of George P. Melchior, reiterated this view, stating: ... It is the manifest intention of this Convention to secure to the State of Mississippi, 'white supremacy'. ... One opposing delegate, a former Confederate general and lawyer from Adams County named William T. Martin , continued this train of thought of

3276-513: The convention's delegates. The words "in Convention assembled" appear after "the people of Mississippi", to represent the fact that the constitution was not sent to the people of the state at large for their approval and ratification, whereas the 1868 one was: We, the people of Mississippi, in Convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work, do ordain and establish this Constitution. The very first section of

3360-502: The convention's members, stating: ... What are you here for, if not to maintain white supremacy ? ... The primary reasoning behind the desire of white Democrats in Mississippi, and the Democrats in other Southern U.S. states, to disenfranchise their black voting populations was due to their voting overwhelmingly for Republican candidates and installing them into office, a result which Democrats referred to pejoratively as "the menace of Negro domination" or "Negro supremacy". During

3444-412: The defense of the institution of slavery, ultimately culminating in the American Civil War, which would end slavery in the United States forever. The 1868 constitution was adopted on May 15, 1868, and approved and ratified by the people of the state a year later on December 1, 1869. This was unlike the 1890 constitution that replaced it 22 years, for that constitution was completely created and approved by

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3528-428: The desire of the Democrats to disfranchise and marginalize black Mississippians was due to the profound ideology of virulent bigotry and prejudice that the Democrats held towards African Americans, whom they looked upon in contempt and held in low regard. The Democrats justified their bigoted views regarding African Americans using a mixture of pseudo-scientific racism and a discredited alternative misinterpretation of

3612-474: The duties of their respective offices, to take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as they case may be) that I have not been engaged in a duel, by sending or accepting a challenge to fight a duel, or by fighting a duel since the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, nor will I be so engaged during my continuance in office. So help me God. Term limits were set for elected offices under

3696-491: The emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners, unless where the slave shall have rendered to the state some distinguished service, in which case the owner shall be paid a full equivalent for the slave so emancipated. ... This retaining of this clause from the 1817 to the 1832 constitution reflected the course of Southern popular opinion at the time, in which laws that restricted state legislatures from ending slavery in their states, by making it impossible without

3780-481: The enactment of the 1868 constitution on the proviso that the U.S. Army's occupation of Mississippi, which prevented a violent Democratic takeover of the state, would end following a Democrat ascending to the U.S. presidency later in the year. However, this deal fell through as the Republican candidate, Ulysses S. Grant , won the U.S. presidential election of 1868 and was re-elected in 1872 . When Mississippi

3864-434: The fourth (and current) constitution to specifically disenfranchise, isolate, and marginalize the state's African American population . Unlike the 1868 constitution, the 1890 one did not go to the people of the state at large for their approval and ratification. The convention created, approved, and ratified it all on its own initiative, as was done in the case of the 1817 and 1832 state constitutions. The new constitution

3948-566: The full consent of slave-owners, were passed or retained, or laws that made it more difficult for slave-owners to set their slaves free were also passed. As noted by future Republican U.S. president Abraham Lincoln in an 1857 speech regarding the Dred Scott decision: In those days, as I understand, masters could, at their own pleasure, emancipate their slaves; but since then, such legal restraints have been made upon emancipation, as to amount almost to prohibition. In those days, Legislatures held

4032-485: The governorship and state legislature of Mississippi. In 1890, the 1868 constitution was replaced by a new constitution by a convention consisting overwhelmingly of white Democrats, which effectively disenfranchised African-American voters in the State of Mississippi for the next eight decades. The very first article of the post-war 1868 constitution was Article 1, also known as the Bill of Rights. Borrowing many tenets from

4116-659: The land (recently confirmed as part of the United States by the Treaty of Paris ) west of the Appalachian Mountains , north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River to eventually be divided into ten states. Once a given area reached 20,000 inhabitants, it could call a constitutional convention and form a provisional government . Then, upon enacting a state constitution which affirmed that

4200-604: The legislature in the 1930s and 1950s, such attempts to replace the constitution have so far proved unsuccessful. Mississippi held constitutional conventions in 1851 and 1861 about secession. A few months before the start of the American Civil War in April 1861, Mississippi, a slave state located in the Southern United States, declared that it had seceded from the United States and joined the newly formed Confederacy , and it subsequently lost its representation in

4284-410: The new Constitution went into effect Congress admitted Vermont and Kentucky on equal terms with the existing 13 states and thereafter formalized the condition in its acts of admission for subsequent states. Thus the Congress, utilizing the discretion allowed by the framers, adopted a policy of equal status for all newly admitted states. The constitutional principle derived from these actions is known as

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4368-404: The new state would forever be part of the Confederation, it would be admitted on an equal footing with all other states, based on a majority vote in Congress. Stipulations for new state dictated that it would be subject to the Articles of Confederation and acts of Congress; would be subject to payment for federal debts; would not tax federal properties within the state border or tax non-residents at

4452-472: The nine states that had ratified it, and the U.S. federal government began operations under it on March 4, 1789, when it was in effect in 11 out of the 13 states. Since then, 37 states have been admitted into the Union. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with those already in existence. Of the 37 states admitted to the Union by Congress, all but six have been established within existing U.S. organized incorporated territories . A state that

4536-459: The officer an ex officio member of the State Board of Education . In 1982 the constitution was amended, removing the attorney general from the board effective July 1, 1984. From 1878 until 2020, all Mississippi attorneys general were Democrats. The incumbent attorney general, Republican Lynn Fitch , was sworn-in to office on January 9, 2020. She is the first woman to hold the position. Like

4620-399: The people of the State of Mississippi, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our own form of government, do ordain this Constitution. This differed from the wording of the 1890 state constitution that replaced it, in which any and all references to "justice", "public order", "liberty", "right" and "freedom" were completely and utterly removed from the preamble by

4704-514: The people of the territory and then by Congress, Congress would adopt by simple majority vote a joint resolution granting statehood. Then the President of the United States would sign the resolution and issue a proclamation announcing that a new state had been added to the Union. While Congress, which has ultimate authority over the admission of new states, has usually followed this procedure, there have been occasions when it did not. Congress

4788-404: The phrase, fearing that the political power of future new western states would ultimately overwhelm that of the established eastern states. Delegates, understanding that the number of states would inevitably increase, did agree to include wording into this clause to preclude formation of a new state out of an established one without the consent of the established state as well as the Congress. It

4872-421: The president of the 1890 constitutional convention, Sol S. Calhoon , a judge from Hinds County , the convention was called specifically to disenfranchise the state's African American voters, restrict their rights and isolate and segregate them from the rest of society. He unabashedly stated that a constitution not doing this was unacceptable to the convention's members: ... Let's tell the truth if it bursts

4956-413: The primary cause, catalyst and reasoning for why the convention had been called into being in the first place, were the implementation of " literacy tests " and " poll taxes " as prerequisites for voting, the intended subjective enforcement of which would disenfranchise virtually nearly every African American in the state for decades. This was something that did not exist under the 1868 constitution. Although

5040-598: The process was established by the Land Ordinance of 1784 and the 1787 Northwest Ordinance , both of which predate the U.S. Constitution. The Admission to the Union Clause forbids the creation of new states from parts of existing states without the consent of all of the affected states and that of Congress. The primary intent of the caveat was to give the four Eastern States that still had western land claims (Connecticut, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia)

5124-428: The prosecution of a crime in the event a local district attorney recuses themselves from proceedings. The attorney general is responsible for appointing the state's solicitor general . They are empowered by law to issue advisory opinions on questions of state law to statewide elected officials, legislators, state agencies, judges, and some local officials. They can also exercise powers under common law . The Office of

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5208-520: The punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. The current constitution of Mississippi was adopted on November 1, 1890, having replaced the 1868 constitution that had been adopted and ratified following the end of the American Civil War to bestow freedoms and civil rights upon newly freed slaves. On February 5, 1890, the Democratic-dominated Mississippi Legislature voted to call

5292-633: The right of voting and bearing arms to black men, established public schools for all children in the state for the first time in its history, prohibited double jeopardy in legal proceedings, and protected the rights of property ownership for married women. Despite this, Southern Democrats, supported by the Northern Democratic Party, were vehemently opposed to any basic civil rights for black Mississippians (indeed, for black Southerners in general) regardless of their level of education or professional credentials. However, they acquiesced to

5376-559: The seats in the Mississippi State Legislature and the other seven statewide-elected offices, the Mississippi attorney general is popularly elected every four years in the November preceding a United States presidential election year. There are no term limits for the holder of the office. Candidates for the office must meet the same constitutional qualifications as candidates for circuit court and chancery court judges; they must be at least 26 years old, have lived in

5460-461: The second constitution was created and adopted. It ended property ownership as a prerequisite for voting, which was limited to free white males at the time. The third constitution, adopted in 1868 and ratified the following year, was the only constitution to be approved and ratified by the people of Mississippi at large and bestowed state citizenship to all of Mississippi's residents, for the first time including newly-freed slaves. The fourth constitution

5544-409: The state constitution's Bill of Rights section determined who was a citizen of the state. The section declared that "all persons" who lived within the borders of the State of Mississippi were its citizens. This extended citizenship to all persons who lived in the state, regardless of their gender or color: All persons resident in this State, citizens of the United States, are hereby declared citizens of

5628-517: The state for at least five years, and have practiced law for at least five years. The attorney general's salary is determined by law. It is currently fixed at $ 108,960 per year, but is set to increase to $ 150,000 annually in 2024. The attorney general is the chief legal officer of the state and serves as the state's lawyer , representing its agencies, boards, and commissions in legal capacities. The attorney general's office also represents district attorneys and local judges in civil litigation, though it

5712-582: The state of Sequoyah as a means to retain control of their lands. The proposed constitution ultimately failed in Congress. Instead, the Indian Territory was incorporated into the new state of Oklahoma in 1907. Some U.S. territories existed only a short time before becoming states, while others remained territories for decades. The shortest-lived was Alabama Territory at 2 years, while New Mexico and Hawaii territories both were in existence for more than 50 years. The entry of several states into

5796-534: The time, the official policy of Democrats throughout the country was to implement patriarchal white supremacy as much as and as far as possible, using as its party slogans, "This is a White Man's Country: Let the White Man Rule!" and "This is a White Man's Government!" As one South Carolinian politician said in 1909, the Democratic Party existed for "one plank and only one plank, namely, that this

5880-528: The unquestioned power to abolish slavery in their respective States; but now it is becoming quite fashionable for State Constitutions to withhold that power from the Legislatures. In those days, by common consent, the spread of the black man's bondage to new countries was prohibited ... This represented a shift in ideology regarding the moral nature of slavery after the Missouri Compromise of 1820, in which many people began to see slavery not as

5964-406: The wording mandating the tests ostensibly implied that they were to be applied equally to all persons, the convention desired to subjectively enforce these literacy tests and poll taxes to prevent African Americans voters from casting ballots. According to the convention's delegates, some of whom were former Confederates, Black suffrage was an effort to "pull down civilization". Indeed, according to

6048-455: Was African American, despite the state having a majority African-American population of 58 percent. During the convention, which took place in Jackson and began on August 12, 1890, running through November 1, several issues were discussed, ranging from the construction of levees in the flood-prone Mississippi Delta to the regulations of railroads. However, the most important issue, indeed,

6132-496: Was a somewhat common occurrence in the early 19th century United States, such as the one between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that resulted in the death of Hamilton, was now outlawed under the 1832 state constitution. The new constitution even required politicians to deliver an affirmation that they would not engage in a duel: The legislature shall pass such laws to prevent the evil practice of duelling as they may deem necessary, and may require all officers before they enter on

6216-489: Was admitted to the Union as the State of Ohio , and the remainder was reorganized. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention , a proposal to include the phrase "new States shall be admitted on the same terms with the original States" in the new states clause was defeated. That proposal would have taken the policy articulated in the Ordinance of 1784 and made it a constitutional imperative. Many delegates objected to including

6300-474: Was adopted on November 1, 1890, and was created by a convention consisting mostly of Democrats in order to prevent the state's African-American citizens from voting. The provisions preventing them from voting were repealed in 1975, after the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1960s had ruled them to have violated the tenets of the Constitution of the United States . While the state constitution adopted in 1890

6384-491: Was anticipated that Kentucky (which was a part of Virginia), Franklin (which was a part of North Carolina, and later became part of the Southwest Territory), Vermont (to which New York asserted a disputed claim), and Maine (which was a part of Massachusetts ), would become states. As a result of this compromise, new breakaway states are permitted to join the Union but only with the proper consents. Shortly after

6468-475: Was fully readmitted back into the United States in February 1870, it did so on the prerequisite specified by the U.S. Congress in the 1870 Act to admit the State of Mississippi , that the state not change or replace its 1868 constitution for the purpose of disenfranchising segments of its voting population, such as freed slaves. However, this agreement eventually went unheeded. In 1876, the Democrats regained

6552-479: Was fully readmitted back into the United States in February 1870. The 1868 state constitution, which was the third constitution that the State of Mississippi's history, lasted until 1890, when after the Compromise of 1877 and a lengthy campaign of terrorist violence to establish Democratic rule in the state succeeded, a constitutional convention composed almost entirely of white Democrats created and adopted

6636-477: Was held up for several years (1854–1861) because of a series of internal violent conflicts involving anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions. Once established, most state borders have, with few exceptions, been generally stable. Notable exceptions include: the various portions (the Western land claims) of several original states ceded over a period of several years to the federal government, which in turn became

6720-610: Was replaced by a new constitution. One notable aspect of the 1832 constitution was that it prohibited importing slaves into Mississippi from other states after May 1, 1833. Some buyers of slaves them defaulted on their obligations to slave traders, arguing that the debt was voided by the law. The Taney Court upheld the obligation to pay the slave traders in Groves v. Slaughter , and Rowan v. Runnels . The constitution changed how judges were chosen, with them being elected and no longer appointed, as defined in Article IV. Dueling, which

6804-411: Was restricted to white men only. African Americans and women were still prohibited from voting in the state or being elected into office under this constitution (until 1868 and 1920 respectively). The 1832 constitution was the last state constitution of Mississippi that was used while slavery was still legal in the United States. It was superseded in 1868, three years after the abolition of slavery, when it

6888-435: Was so created might encompass all or part of a territory. When the people of a territory or a region have grown to a sufficient population and have made their desire for statehood known to the federal government, Congress in most cases has passed an enabling act , authorizing the people of that territory or region to frame a proposed state constitution as a step toward admission to the Union. The use of an enabling act has been

6972-407: Was the first constitution Mississippi had ever had as a U.S. state, having been created when the state joined the federal Union in 1817. It was replaced in 1832 by a new state constitution, which then was used until 1868. The 1832 state constitution was in effect until 1868, and removed the requirement that voters must own property to cast ballots. However, the right to vote and run for elected office

7056-646: Was utilized by the Democrats and the state government, in conjunction with terrorist violence , to marginalize and prohibit black Mississippians from participating in the state's civil society until the 1960s and 1970s. Mississippi was not the only U.S. state at the time that created a new constitution specifically for the purpose of disenfranchising their African American voters; other ones did as well, South Carolina followed suit in December 1895 under its Democratic governor in replacing its 1868 state constitution . As with Mississippi's current 1890 constitution,

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