05
Presentation Rosentretter 05: (44 slides)
Title: Quest for Statehood:
How Michigan became a State
Slide 1:
Quest for Statehood
How Michigan Became a State
Slide 2:
January 12, 1835
Michigan faced a crisisCongress said no. We had a right to be a state. Call for a constitutional convention to meet in May 1835
image: portrait of Stevens T Mason
Slide 3:
Stevens T. Mason
Born in Virginia in 1812 but raised in KentuckyMoved to Michigan in 1830Appointed territorial secretary at age 19 upon his fathers resignationActing governor upon death of governor in 1834Labeled boy governor
image: portrait of Stevens T Mason
Slide 4:
Toledo War Michigan Territory vs. State of Ohio
(spring-summer 1835)
image; Map of Michigan and western Ohio, highlighting the Toledo Strip
Slide 5:
an east-west line that intersected the southern tip of Lake Michigan
image 1: Michigan Boundaries and the Toledo Strip Question
image 2: map of the 1787 Northwest Territory
Slide 6:
Ohio Governor Robert Lucas
image 1: portrait of Ohio Governor Robert Lucas
image 2: map of western Ohio
Slide 7:
Pains and Penalties Act(February 1835)
It was illegal for any non-Michiganian (i.e. any Ohioan) to exercise official jurisdiction in the Toledo Strip upon pain & penalty of a $1,000 and five-year imprisonment.
Slide 8:
We are the weaker party, it is true, but we are on the side of justice; and, with the guidance of Him who never forsakes the unjust, we cannot fail to maintain our rights against the encroachments of a powerful neighboring state. (Mason)
Slide 9:
Jacksons Attorney General speaks
1. Ohio had NO right to assume jurisdiction in the Toledo Strip without Congresss approval (which had not been given).
2. Pains and Penalties was a legitimate measure for Michigan to use to resist incursions into its territory.
3. The president had jurisdiction over territorial officials, but NOT state officials.
Slide 10:
Jackson sends commissionersRichard Rush of Philadelphia and Benjamin C. Howard of Baltimore
image: portrait of Richard Rush
Slide 11:
Commissioners report
Lucas was very firm in his character and though doing what nine-tenths of the nation will hereafter pronounce as wrong . . . Will listen to no argument upon the point.
image 1: portrait of Lucas
Mason agreed not to take any step that will lead to a broil as long as Ohio stayed out of the Toledo Strip.
image 2: portrait of Stevens T Mason
Slide 12:
Commissioners Compromise
1. Suspend Pains and Penalties Act and stop Michigan from prosecuting anyone who had violated this law.
2. Ohio would be allowed to rerun the Harris Line.
3. Ohio and Michigan would establish joint jurisdiction in the Toledo Strip until the matter was resolved by Congress.
Slide 13:
Michigans FIRST ConstitutionMay until mid-June 1835
List;
Item: Delegates have little parliamentary experience. Half of the 90 delegates are farmers; only 10 lawyers. Item: Majority are DemocratsItem: Bill of Rights & bicameral legislature adoptedItem: Short ballot adopted with many appointed positions. Item: Hottest topic was who could votea liberal approach enfranchising 21 year olds living in Michigan is adopted. NO property restrictions.Item: Enlightened education provisionsstate supt. of instruction (we are FIRST) & Section 16 perpetual fund Item: State government authorized to undertake internal improvements
Slide 14:
Ohios Response to Michigans Constitution
"reckless vengeance, scarcely paralleled in the history of civilized nations"
1. Abduction of an Ohio citizen was a crime punishable by 3 to 7 years at hard labor.
2. Formed the Toledo Strip into Lucas County.
3. Committed $600,000 to defend Ohios actions.
4. Ordered an Ohio court to meet in Toledo on the first Monday in September.
Slide 15:
Toledo Taunts
[keep away from Toledo for we have our] knives sharpened and rifles loaded.
[resist further Michigan arrests as long as they had] a drop of blood left.
Slide 16:
The General Government may expect a serious collision. . . . The consequences attending such a state of things are deeply to be regretted, but they must rest with those who might prevent their occurrence.
(if there is a shooting warit isnt my fault)
Slide 17:
Jackson fires Mason
image 1: portrait of Jackson
image 2: portrait of Mason
Slide 18:
Advance to Toledo
We are fighting for Michigan.
Slide 19:
First State Election (October 5, 1835)
by Thomas Mickell Burnham (1837)
image: the painting, the First State Election (October 5, 1835)
Slide 20:
to await with patience the final recognition of our equal sovereignty
by Congress.
(Mason at his November 1, 1835 inaugural)
Slide 21:
Congressman Isaac Crary
image: portrait of Congressman Isaac Crary
Born in College Connecticut graduate who studied lawMoved to Marshall, Michigan, in 1833Served three terms in CongressU/M regent, newspaper editor, speaker of the Michigan House of Reps.
Slide 22:
Senator John Norvell
image: portrait of Senator John Norvell
Born in Kentucky in 1789Newspaper editor & lawyer in Baltimore (MD), Lexington (KY) and Philadelphia (PA). Moved to Michigan in 1831U/M regent, state senate, state house, US district attorney Parented 8 sons by 3 wives
Slide 23:
Senator Lucius Lyon
image: portrait of Senator Lucius Lyon
Born in Vermont in 1800Common school educationSurveyor Moved to Bronson, Michigan, in 1821U/M regent, Indian commissioner, congressman, surveyor general, $$ backer of a working farm machine (reaper) Never lived in Lyon
Slide 24:
Governor John S. Horner
image: portrait of John S. Horner
Born in Virginia in 1802College graduate & lawyerAppointed Michigan territorial governor on August 15, 1835 Later secretary of the Wisconsin Territory, living in Ripon until his death in 1883.
Slide 25:
I placed pardons . . . amidst a wild and dangerous population, without any aid, a friend, servant or bed to sleep in, in the midst of a mob excited by . . . . bad men, I could not enlist a friend, or an officer of the Territory. . . . The district attorney had the effrontery and timidity to say that, if he acted, the mob would throw him and myself in the river.(Governor Horner)
Slide 26:
Congress debates Michigans plight
image: the Capitol
Slide 27:
never in the course of his life had he known of a controversy in which all the right was so clear on one side and all the power so overwhelmingly on the other.(John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts)
image: photograph of John Quincy Adams
Slide 28:
There is a point beyond which a free people cannot be driven. Why are the people of Michigan to be vexed and harassed in this way? They feel that they are treated harshly; that great injustice is done them. They have been opposed and resisted in every course they have pursued to obtain admission into the Union; and you have now divided their territory. . . . Do you wish to drive that people to desperation; to force them into acts of violence?
(John Milton Niles of Connecticut)
image: portrait of John Milton Niles
Slide 29:
Congresss Solution
Northern Ohio Boundary Bill
Michigan gives up the Toledo Strip and is offered the WESTERN Upper Peninsula and immediate statehoodbut only withassent.
Slide 30:
Us vs. THEM35 vs 3 (electoral votes)
image: map of Michigan detailing the Western Upper Peninsula, Eastern Upper Peninsula, and the Toledo Strip
Slide 31:
Michigans Reaction
Congresss actions were oppressive, unconstitutional and dangerous to the permanecy of our Republican Institutions.
Slide 32:
the sterile region on the shores of Lake Superior, destined by soil and clim...