The Nebraska Constitution is the basic governing document of the U.S. state of Nebraska . All acts of the Nebraska Legislature , the governor , and each governmental agency are subordinate to it. The constitution has been amended 228 times since it was first adopted in 1875, most notably to include the creation of a unicameral legislature.
6-654: It is nicknamed the Grasshopper Constitution due to the occurrence of Albert's swarm , an immense concentration of grasshoppers that scourged the Western United States in 1875, during the constitutional convention that drafted the constitution. On February 8, 1867, the United States Congress voted to admit Nebraska as a state , provided that suffrage was not denied to non-white voters. The bill admitting Nebraska as
12-543: A state was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson , but the veto was overridden by a supermajority in both Houses of Congress, and Nebraska was admitted to the Union . After a failed attempt to ratify a constitution in 1870, in 1874, the Nebraska Legislature proposed a constitutional convention to meet to draft a new constitution. This proposal was overwhelmingly approved by a popular vote of 18,067 to 3,880, and
18-457: Is referred to repeatedly in a western Missouri historical record that explains: It was the year 1875 that will long be remembered by the people of at least four states, as the grasshopper year. The scourge struck Western Missouri April, 1875, and commenced devastating some of the fairest portions of our noble commonwealth. They gave Henry [County] an earnest and overwhelming visitation, and demonstrated with an amazing rapidity that their appetite
24-573: The Preamble. Albert%27s swarm Albert's swarm was an immense concentration of the Rocky Mountain locust that swarmed the Western United States in 1875. It was named after Albert Child, a physician interested in meteorology , who calculated the size of the swarm to 198,000 square miles (510,000 km ) by multiplying the swarm's estimated speed with the time it took for it to move through southern Nebraska . The 1875 swarm
30-501: The convention, consisting of sixty-nine members, began meeting May 11, 1875. The Nebraska Constitution, based partly upon the 1870 Constitution of Illinois , was adopted by the constitutional convention on June 12, 1875. This constitution became known as the Grasshopper Constitution, as it coincided with Albert's swarm , an immense concentration of grasshoppers that invaded the Western United States. The constitution
36-514: Was ratified on October 12, 1875 after it was approved by a popular vote of 30,322 to 5,474, and came into force on November 1, 1875. With the addition of 228 amendments since its adoption, including the creation of a unicameral legislature , the 1875 Nebraska Constitution remains the basic law of the state to this day. Nebraska held a constitutional convention in 1919–20 with 41 amendments adopted. The Nebraska Constitution Preamble reads: The constitution consists of eighteen articles, excluding
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