Cradle of Statehood
N 43° 32.818 W 096° 43.805
14T E 683370 N 4824060
After 2 decades of presidents appointing governors & other officials from outside the territory, a statehood movement began in the 1880s in the southern half of the Dakota Territory.
Waymark Code: WMC8D
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 05/09/2006
Views: 25
After 2 decades of presidents appointing governors & other officials from outside the territory, a statehood movement began in the 1880s in the southern half of the Dakota Territory. They called for a convention to meet at Sioux Falls to frame a constitution enabling the people who lived south of the 46th parallel to develop a state government and to make application for admission into the Union.
Germania Hall was the only building in the territory that was deemed large enough to hold the 150 expected delegates. In all, 3 separate conventions were held by the constitutional delegates in their quest for statehood. It was the convention held in 1889 that allowed the final push forward for SD to become the 40th state in the Union.
More history:
Dakotans in the southern part of the state went to work, meeting in Sioux Falls. They wrote a constitution and pushed for statehood in the United States Congress. On February 2, 1889, Congress set the boundary between North and South Dakota passing an enabling act which allowed the two sections to take the necessary steps toward statehood. On Nov. 2, 1889, North Dakota and South Dakota entered the Union as the 39th and 40th states.
The first constitutional convention seeking South Dakota statehood was held in 1883. A second convention was held two years later in 1885. The constitution adopted in 1885 is the same constitution written in 1883 with additions, corrections and deletions. In fact, on the original copy of the 1883 constitution a 5 is written over the 3 changing the date from September 1883 to September 1885. The document is concluded, "Done at Sioux Falls this 25th day of September 1885". On August 17, 1889, a third convention drafted the final constitutional provisions to meet requirements of the Enabling Act of 1889. It was adopted by the people of South Dakota on October 1, 1889. South Dakota is governed under this constitution adopted in 1889, as amended.
Marker Name: Cradle of Statehood
Marker Type: City
Marker Text: Not listed
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