2009-04
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/31/2009
Rare first official printing of the State of Wisconsin's Constitution, 31p. quarto, "Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting The constitution adopted by the delegates of the people of the Territory of Wisconsin." January 21, 1847, and begins with a communication to the House of Representatives by President James Polk, in part: "...I communicate herewith a letter received from the president of the convention of delegates of the people of Wisconsin, transmitting a certified copy of the constitution adopted by the delegates of the people of Wisconsin in convention assembled; also a copy of the act of the legislature of the Territory of Wisconsin providing for the calling of said convention; and also a copy of the last census, showing the number of inhabitants in said Territory, requesting the President 'to lay the same before the Congress of the United States, with the request that Congress act upon the same at its present session." With the full printing of the Constitution, which includes a section "On the militia" and reads in part: "...The militia of this State shall consist of all free, able bodied male persons (negroes and mulattoes excepted) resident in the said State, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such persons as now are, or hereafter may be, exempted by the laws of the United States or of this State; and they shall be armed, equipped, organized, and disciplined, in such manner and at such times as may be directed by law. Those who conscientiously scruple to bear arms shall not be compelled to do so, but shall pay an equivalent for personal service..." also records the rights of Indians to vote and a list of the population by White men and women, and Colored men and women. Much more. Fine. Wisconsin, bordered by the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, as well as Lakes Michigan and Superior, has been part of the United States' territory since the end of the American Revolution; the Wisconsin Territory (which included parts of other current states) was formed on July 3, 1836. Wisconsin ratified its constitution on March 13, 1848, and was admitted to the Union on May 29, 1848, as the 30th state.
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