OF
S LIBRARY
4 iMA-CHAMPAIGN
ILL HIST. SURVEY
The gift & James' R^
and Helen- . Davie's in
memory of Attorney ai
Mrs. Joseph L. Shaj
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign
J,'~'
Sfatthbonks of Ammran
EDITED BY
Hatart nee IB. Enatw, ^Jj.S.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN TUFTS COLLEGE
The Government of Illinois
HANDBOOKS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
The
Government of Illinois
Its History and Administration
BY
EVARTS BOUTELL GREENE
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THii
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
SECOND EDITION
gorfc
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.
1904
All Rights Rtstrved
COPYRIGHT, igoc
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Set up and Electrotyped. Published October. 1904
Reprinted September, igoj
THE MASON PRESS
Syracuse, New York, U.S.A.
'
To
JEREMIAH EVARTS GREENE
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION
OF THE EXAMPLE WHICH HE GAVE
OF LOYAL SERVICE
TO THE COMMONWEALTH
PREFACE
This volume is one of a series of handbooks dealing
with the constitutional development and present gov-
ernment of particular states of the American Union.
It conforms, therefore, in its main outlines to the gen-
eral plan of the series. As a text-book on American
government, it assumes a complementary volume on
the Federal system, which is here only incidentally
considered.
In the first part, dealing with the history of the
state, the emphasis is laid upon constitutional and po-
litical development, but the effort has been made to
treat that development broadly in its natural relation
to economic and social experience. This section,
though necessarily brief, may perhaps serve as a con-
venient guide for more extended study based upon the
references for collateral reading. The history of Illi-
nois is full of interest, not only for its own citizens, but
for all Americans who wish to understand the sectional
forces at work in our national development. The sec-
ond part is a study of the constitutional mechanism
and of the financial system by which it is kept in opera-
tion. The last group of chapters describes the public
services which the state performs and for which its
complex mechanism was created. .
This little book is not designed to meet the require-
ments of the specialist. It is hoped, however, that it
may prove useful to the general reader and especially to
young people beginning a serious study of American
viii Preface
government as illustrated in their own State. In deal-
ing with so broad a field, there is ample room for mis-
conceptions of every kind, but so far as possible, the
author has sought to go beyond the formal terms of
constitution and statute and to make clear the real
working of institutions. For such measure of success
as may have been achieved in this respect, the author
is largely indebted to some of his colleagues, who have
given him the benefit of their expert judgment by read-
ing certain parts of the manuscript. Special acknowl-
edgments for such service are due to Mr. William L.
Pillsbury, Registrar of the University of Illinois, Pro-
fessor James B. Scott of the Columbia University Law
School, and Professor M. B. Hammond of the Univer-
sity of Ohio.
For the guidance of teachers and students, reference
lists have been given at the beginning of each chapter.
It is needless to say that these lists make no pretensions
to completeness ; and there will doubtless be differences
of opinion as to certain selections. In addition to
books dealing specifically with Illinois, a few general
works have been listed which may suggest to the
teacher some applications of the historical and compara-
tive method which were not possible within the neces-
sary limits of this volume. The following books will
be found serviceable for general reference on the his-
tory and government of Illinois :
1. Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, 2 vols.,
Fergus Printing Company, Chicago, 1889-1892 (2nd
ed. 1895).
2. Hurd, Revised Statutes, The Legal News Com-
pany, Chicago, 1903. This has been issued at inter-
vals of two years by the Editor of the last official
revision (1874).
Preface ix
3. Starr and Curtis, Annotated Statutes of the State
of Illinois, 3 vols., Chicago, 1896. Useful as a guide
to the decisions of the courts on disputed points of
law.
4. Blue Book of the State of Illinois, Springfield,
The Secretary of State, 1903, and other years. A reg-
ister of state officials and a convenient manual of refer-
ence regarding the state and its government.
These special books on Illinois should of course be
supplemented by general works on American govern-
ment, such as Bryce, American Commonwealth, pub-
lished in various editions (Macmillan) ; and Hart,
Actual Governments Applied Under American Condi-
tions, Revised edition, New York, Longman's, 1904.
The latter contains elaborate bibliographies.
In conclusion, the author wishes to acknowledge his
indebtedness for many useful suggestions received
from the writers of previous volumes in this series and
especially from the editor, Professor Lawrence B.
Evans of Tufts College.
EVARTS B. GREENE.
University of Illinois, September, 1904.
CONTENTS
PART FIRST
THE HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
CHAPTER I
THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE 1673-1818
I. References. 2. The Physiography of Illinois.
3. The Indians of Illinois. 4. The French in Illi-
nois, 1673-1765. 5. British Dominion and Its Over-
throw, 1765-1783. 6. The Northwest Territory, 1784-
1800. 7. Illinois in the Indiana Territory, 1800-1809.
8. The Illinois Territory, 1809-1818 .... I
CHAPTER II
THE OLD FRONTIER STATE 1818-1848
9. References. 10. The Organization of the State.
ii. Frontier Conditions. 12. Progress, 1818-1848.
13. Problems of Government, 1818-1847. 14. Early
Politics of the State. 15. The Convention of 1847
and the New Constitution 21
CHAPTER III
THE NEW INDUSTRIAL STATE 1848-1901
16. References. 17. Sectional Controversies in State
and National Politics, 1848-1870. 18. Economic De-
velopment, 1848-1870. 19. The Constitution of 1870.
20. The People and Their Government, 1870-1901 . 42
Contents xi
PART SECOND
THE MACHINERY OF STATE GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER IV
UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF STATE GOVERNMENT
21. References. 22. The Field of State Government.
23. The State Constitution. 24. The Distribution
of Powers. 25. Reserved Rights of the People . 56
CHAPTER V
ELECTIONS
26. References. 27. The Suffrage. 28. The Con-
duct of Elections. 29. The Counting of Votes.
30. Nominations ...' . 64
CHAPTER VI
THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
31. References. 32. The Organization of the Legis-
lature. 33. The Making of Laws. 34. The Execu-
tive Power. 35. The Judiciary 76
CHAPTER VII
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
36. References. 37. County Government. 38.
Town Government. 39. Municipal Governments.
40. Minor Local Governments 95
41. References. 42. The Government of Cook
County. 43. The Government of Chicago. 44.
Minor Local Governments 108
xii Contents
CHAPTER IX
THE FINANCES OF THE STATE
45. References. 46. The Taxing Power. 47. The
General Property Tax. Assessment. 48. Collection
of Taxes. 49. Minor Sources of Revenue. 50.
Regulation of Expenditure . . . . . . . 121
PART THIRD
THE WORK OF THE STATE
CHAPTER X
THE POLICE POWER
51. References. 52. State Action and Self-Help.
53. The Police Power. 54. Protection of Health
and Morals. 55. The Enforcement of Law . . 134
CHAPTER XI
THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
56. References. 57. Law and Equity. 58. Pro-
cedure in Civil Cases. 59. Procedure in Criminal
Cases 146
CHAPTER XII
THE WARDS OF THE STATE
60. References. 61. Treatment of the Criminal Class.
62. Poor Relief. 63. Care of Defectives . . 160
CHAPTER XIII
THE ECONOMIC SERVICES OF THE STATE
64. References. 65. State Regulation of Private En-
terprise. 66. Industrial Combinations and Labor
Legislation. 67. State Aid to Private Enterprise.
68. Public Ownership 173
Contents xiii
CHAPTER XIV
PUBLIC EDUCATION
69. References. 70. Reasons for Public Education.
71. Growth of the School System. 72. Principles
of the School System. 73. The School Funds. 74.
Local School Administration. 75. State Educa-
tional Institutions. The State Superintendent. 76.
Public Libraries 190
APPENDIX A
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES
77. Important Historical Events. 78. Governors of
Illinois, with Places of Birth, Dates of Accession, and
Party Affiliations 207
APPENDIX B
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
79. The Northwest Ordinance, July 13, 1787. 80.
Illinois Territorial Organization Act, February 3,
1809. 81. The Enabling Act, April 18, 1818. 82.
Joint Resolution for the Admission of Illinois into the
Union, December 3, 1818. 83. The Constitution of
Illinois, 1870 (Excerpts) 213
APPENDIX C
POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE STATE
84. Counties in the Order of Their Erection. 85.
Senatorial Districts. 86. Judicial Districts and Cir-
cuits 254
xiv Contents
APPENDIX D
SYNOPTICAL REVIEW OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT
87. The Central Government of the State. 88. The
Local Governments of the State outside of Cook
County. 89. The Local Governments of Cook
County 259
APPENDIX E
STATISTICAL TABLES
90. Population by Counties. 91. Cities of 10,000 or
More Inhabitants, 1850-1900. 92. The Population of
Illinois and Chicago Classified According to Nativity.
93. The Presidential Vote of Illinois. 94. State
Finances, October i, 1900, to September 30, 1902.
95. Finances of the City of Chicago, 1902 . . . 274
PART I
THE HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
CHAPTER I
THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE 1673-1818
i. REFERENCES
Physiography: Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I.
ch. i ; Leverett, The Illinois Glacial Lobe, ch. i (U.S. Geolog-
ical Survey Monographs) ; Worthen, Geological Survey of Illi-
nois, I. ; Leverett, "The Water Resources of Illinois" ( U. S.
Geological Survey, i8th Annual Report, Pt. II.) ; Palmer,
Waters of Illinois.
Indians : Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I. ch. 2 ;
Beckwith, The Illinois and Indiana Indians (Fergus Historical
Series). See also index and bibliography in Thwaites, Jesuit
Relations and Allied Documents.
The French in Illinois : Parkman, Works, especially his La
Salle and the Discovery of the Great West; Winsor, Cartier to
Frontenac and The Mississippi Basin, passim ; Winsor, Narra-
tive and Critical History of America, IV. ch. 5; V. ch. i (im-
portant for bibliography) ; Shea, Discovery and Exploration of
the Mississippi Valley; Shea, Early Voyages up and down the
Mississippi; Shea, The Catholic Church in Colonial Days, Book
III. ch. 5, and Book VI. ch. I ; Mason, Chapters from Illinois
History, 1-249, and other articles by him in the Fergus Histor-
ical Series; Wallace, Illinois and Louisiana under the French
Rule; Breese, The Early History of Illinois; Moses, Illinois
Historical and Statistical, I. chs. 3-6. Among the most impor-
tant printed sources for this period are the reports of the Jesuit
Missionaries found in Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations and Al-
lied Documents, 73 vols. (Originals with translations, good
index and bibliography). Other sources are in Margry, Decou-
vertes et Etablissements, 6 vols. ; and in French, Historical Col-
lections of Louisiana.
i I
2 Government of Illinois
British Period : Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of
America, VI. ch. 9 (important for bibliography of this and the
succeeding period) ; Winsor, The Westward Movement, ch. 3;
Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I chs. 7,8; Davidson
and Stuve, A Complete History of Illinois, chs. 14, 15 ; Park-
man,Tke Conspiracy of Pontiac ; Mason, Chapters from Illinois
History, 232-249. Sources : Mason, Philippe de Rocheblave
and the Rocheblave Papers (Fergus Historical Series); Pitt-
man, The Present State of the European Settlements on the
Mississippi (1770) ; Hutchins, A Topographical Description of
Virginia (1778). For published papers from the Canadian Ar-
chives, see Illinois Historical Collections, I., and various vol-
umes of the Wisconsin Historical Society Collections; the
Michigan Pioneer Collections; the Chicago Historical Society
Collections, and Brymner, Reports on Canadian Archives. See
also Documents relative to the Colonial History of New York,
VII., VIII.
Virginia Period, 1778-1784: Boyd, "The County of Illinois"
(in American Historical Review, IV. 623-635) ; Hinsdale, The
Old Northwest, ch. 9; Mason, Chapters from Illinois History,
250-292 ; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, chs. 9, 10;
Roosevelt, The Winning of the West (1889) II., chs. 1-4,0;
III., ch. 2; English, Conquest of the Country Northwest of the
River Ohio and Life of George Rogers Clark; Thwaites, Essays
in Western History, ch. i. Sources: Hening, Statutes at
Large (Virginia), IX. -XII.; Calendar of Virginia State
Papers, I. -1 1 1.; George Rogers Clark's Sketch of his Campaign
in the Illinois in 1778-9. See also ' ' Clark Papers' ' in American
Historical Review , I. 90-96; VIII. 491-506; W. W. Henry, Pat-
rick Henry, Life, Correspondence and Speeches; "John Todd's
Record Book" (in Chicago Historical Society Collections, IV.).
Illinois in the Northwest and Indiana Territories : Hinsdale,
The Old Northwest, chs. 14-16, 18 ; Roosevelt, The Winning of
theWest, III., IV.; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I. ,
chs. 11-14; Perkins and Peck, Annals of the West; Burnet,
Notes on the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory;
Dunn, Indiana (American Commonwealth Series) ; Dillon, His-
tory of Indiana; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of
America, VII. Appendix I. (with bibliography). Sources:
The Ordinance of 1787 and other important documents are con-
veniently collected in Hart and Channing, Documents relating
to Territorial Administration (American History Leaflets),
and in Hurd, The Revised Statutes (Illinois); Smith, The St.
Clair Papers, 2 vols. ; American State Papers( Volumes on Pub-
The Illinois Country and Its People 3
lie Lands, Indian Affairs, Military Affairs). For a bibliography
of Territorial records, see Starr and Curtis, Annotated Statutes.
The Territory of Illinois. 1809-1818: Moses, Illinois His-
torical and Statistical, I., chs. 15-18 and Appendix ; Davidson
and Stuve, A Complete History of Illinois, chs. 21-25. Sources :
Reynolds, Pioneer History of Illinois (to be used with care) ;
Reynolds, My Own Times (2nd ed.) ; Edwards, History of Illi-
nois from 1778-1833 and Life and Times of Ninian Edwards,
chs. 1-6, 15, 16; Washburne, The Edwards Papers (in Chicago
Historical Society's Collections, III.) ; see also various numbers
of the Fergus Historical Series; Forsyth, "Letter Book" (in
Wisconsin Historical Society, Collections, XL 316-355 ; James,
"Information relating to the Territorial Laws of Illinois" (in
Publications of the Illinois State Historical Library, No. 2) ;
"The Territorial Records of Illinois" (in Publications of the
Illinois State Historical Library, No. 3). For other information
about Territorial Laws, see Starr and Curtis, Annotated Stat-
utes of Illinois, I., Introduction, and Bowker, State Publications,
Part II. ; American State Papers (Public Lands, Indian Affairs,
Military Affairs).
2. THE PHYSIOGRAPHY OF ILLINOIS
A practical and really living constitution must rest in Relation of
the main upon the experience of the people who frame ^^
it, and must be so framed as to serve those wants which economic
they have come to realize as the result of that experi-
ence. It is clear then that constitutional development
can not be understood without knowing something of
the economic and social facts and problems with which
governments have to deal. Constitutional history can
be most profitably studied not by itself, but in close
connection with economic and social history.
The first great factor in the experience of any people Area and
is the land on which they live. The State of Illinois has boundaries -
within its limits to-day a total land area of over 56,000
square miles, and is therefore neither one of the largest,
nor yet one of the smaller states of the American
4 Government of Illinois
union. 1 This area is largely marked off by natural
boundaries. Its southern and western limits are formed
by two great rivers, the Ohio and the Mississippi. Its
eastern boundary is also partly 'of this kind, being
marked by the Ohio and the Wabash, and a line drawn
due north from Vincennes. Since this line runs into
Lake Michigan, that lake may for most purposes be
regarded as a part of the State boundary. The northern
boundary of 42 30' is, of course, an imaginary line so
drawn as to give the State a frontage on Lake Michi-
gan. 2
Geographical One of the most important geographical facts about
position. Illinois is its central position combined with its great
extension from north to south. From the northern line
of 42 30' to Cairo, which lies almost exactly on the
parallel of 37 north latitude, is a distance of nearly
four hundred miles. These parallels continued to the
Atlantic coast include Boston on the north and nearly
all of Virginia on the south. The great water highways
of the State have also connected it almost equally with
the north and the south. The first Europeans came to
Illinois by way of the Great Lakes. Later the French
settlements of this region were connected most closely
with New Orleans and the lower Mississippi. The
early American settlers came mainly by way of the Ohio
river from the border southern States and, later still,
the Erie canal and the lake steamboats brought to
northern Illinois immigrants from New York and New
1 Commissioner of the General Land Office, Annual Report,
1901, 318 The total land and water area, including a part of
Lake Michigan, is 58,354 square miles.
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1870, Art. I. ; cf. Constitution of In-
diana, 1851, Art. XIV. (both in Poore, Charters and Constitu-
tions, I.).
The Illinois Country and Its People 5
England. These geographical facts have given to
Illinois politics a sectional character somewhat like that
of the country at large.
The physical characteristics of this territory are sim- Physical
pie and may be summarized briefly. The first is a ^f c r s acter "
comparatively level surface. At the south, Cairo stands
about three hundred feet above the ocean level. Be-
tween this and the highest points in the State, which
are to be found in the northwestern counties, there is a
difference of less than a thousand feet. The slope from
north to south is gradual except in the southern part of
the State, where one range of hills rises somewhat
abruptly from the plains to the height of over one
thousand feet. 1 A second characteristic, especially of
the northern and central sections, is the absence of
heavy forests, so that a large part of the surface is open
prairie. Thirdly, the soil is well watered, rich, and
adapted to the production of the great staple grains.
Finally, the coal mines of the State have proved an
important source of wealth.
The even surface, wide areas of open prairie, abun- influence of
dance of water, and richness of soil made Illinois first a these
physical
great agricultural State. Its central position in the character-
Union, with convenient access to great interior water- lstlcs -
ways, laid the foundation of its commercial prosperity;
and these advantages, taken together with the newly
developed coal deposits, have made it also one of the
chief manufacturing States of the Union. Out of this
many-sided economic development have come many of
the characteristic features of our social and political life.
Gannett, A Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States;
World Almanac, 1901, 65 ; Leverett, The Glacial Lobe of Illinois,
ch. 2.
6 Government of Illinois
3. THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS
The Indians. Two hundred and fifty years ago the territory of the
theTistoV '" P resent State had been occupied only by a few thousand
of the state. Indians. One of these tribes, the Winnebagoes, was
related to the Sioux or Dakotas of the Northwest, but
most of them belonged to the Algonquin family, which
included nearly all of the Indians east of the Mississippi.
The best known of these Algonquin tribes are those of
the Illinois Confederacy. During the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, they were settled along the Illinois
and Mississippi rivers, and they have left their mark
upon the map of the State in such names as Cahokia,
Kaskaskia, and Peoria. It was among them that the
first permanent white settlements were founded, and
there are still in southern Illinois a few people of mixed
race who are descended from this Indian stock. The
Illinois suffered seriously from the invasions of the
Iroquois and the efforts of the French missionaries to
civilize and Christianize them met with little permanent
success. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the
most stubborn opposition to white settlement came from
the Sacs and Foxes of northern Illinois and southern
Wisconsin. These Indian tribes scarcely occupied this
country at all. Though they cultivated the soil, they de-
pended largely upon hunting and fishing and were con-
stantly changing the location of their villages. Their
numbers were always insignificant as compared with the
vast areas over which they roamed, and they had only
the slightest political organization. They are important
in the history of the State chiefly because of the obsta-
cles which they placed in the progress of the white
pioneers. This opposition continued for fifteen years
after the State was admitted to the Union, until, soon
The Illinois Country and Its People 7
after the close of the Black Hawk War, the last tract of
Indian lands in Illinois was surrendered to the whites.
4. THE FRENCH IN ILLINOIS. 1673-1675
The first European visitors to Illinois, of whom we
have any certain knowledge, were Louis Joliet, who Mar i uette -
represented the French government at Quebec, and
Father Marquette, the Jesuit missionary. They ex-
plored together in 1673 the Mississippi and Illinois
rivers. Before Marquette died, in 1675, he had made
a second visit to the Indians on the Illinois River and
founded a Catholic mission, which was continued after
his death by other Jesuit missionaries. 1
Meanwhile the Illinois country had also been entered La Saiie.
by a number of French traders and adventurers. Of
these the most important was the famous explorer, La
Salle, who had been authorized by Louis XIV to make
discoveries and establish posts in this western country. 2
By 1682 he had made his way from the Great Lakes
down the Illinois and the Mississippi to the Gulf of
Mexico. In 1680, he built Fort Crevecoeur on the Illi-
nois River near Peoria. This was soon abandoned,
however, and in 1683 Fort St. Louis was built higher
up the river between Ottawa and La Salle. This post
La Salle proposed to make a great center of French
influence in the West. He soon, however, left the
Illinois country; and his post on the Illinois, though
1 Jesuit Relations (Thwaites ed.) LVIII.-LXII, especially
LIX., Doc. No. 86; cf. Shea, Discovery and Exploration of the
Mississippi Valley and his Catholic Church in Colonial Days,
260, 327, 535-
2 Patent in Margry, Decouvertes et Etablissements, 11-337-338.
8 Government of Illinois
kept up for some years by his lieutenant, Tonty, was
finally abandoned. 1
Before 1700 the French had established a few mis-
sions and trading posts in Illinois, but there was hardly
any real colonization. In or about the year 1700, how-
ever, the Kaskaskia Indians on the Illinois River near
Peoria moved southward and established themselves
near the junction of the Kaskaskia and Mississippi
rivers. Here, as on the Illinois river, the Indian vil-
lages attracted the French traders and missionaries.
Gradually the wandering traders began to make homes
for themselves and there grew up the French village of
Kaskaskia. Something like this took place about the
same time at Cahokia, opposite the present city of St.
Louis. 2 At first these settlements in Illinois were left
very much to themselves, though subject in a general
way to the authorities at Quebec. In 1717, however,
they were definitely annexed to the new province of
Louisiana. In 1718 a commandant was sent up to
govern the Illinois country, which became one of the
districts of Louisiana. 3 By 1720 Fort Chartres was
built on the Mississippi between Cahokia and Kaskaskia
and three new villages soon grew up. These five vil-
lages lying between the Kaskaskia and Mississippi
rivers and a few obscure settlers on the Illinois were
1 Parkman, La Salle; Mason, Chapters from Illinois History,
1-211; Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, ch. 15; Documents in
Margry, V. 51, 55, 65.
* Mason, Kaskaskia and her Parish Records (in Fergus His-
torical Series, 12) ; Thwaites, ed., Jesuit Relations, LXV., No.
75-
* Patent to Crozat in French, Historical Collections of Loui-
siana, III. 38-42; Patent to Company of the West, ibid., 49-59;
Hart and Channing, American History Leaflets, No. 16, p. 22;
Gayarre, Histoire de la Louisiane, I. 184-185.
The Illinois Country and Its People 9
practically all that the French accomplished in the way
of colonization in Illinois. 1
In 1750, the Jesuit Vivier estimated that in the five character-
French villages there might be "eleven hundred white ^^ the
people, three hundred blacks and about sixty red colonists,
slaves." These people were chiefly farmers and trad-
ers. They cultivated wheat and corn and bred some
livestock, supplying the settlements on the lower Mis-
sissippi with flour, pork, and numerous other articles. 2
On the whole they were ignorant and unenterprising.
They knew nothing of representative institutions as
they existed in the English colonies, and their govern-
ment was of the simplest kind. From 1717 to 1731,
Illinois with the other districts of Louisiana was under
the authority of the French Company of the West. In
the latter year, the company ceded its rights to the king
and Louisiana became a royal province, with a royal
governor at its head. The chief officers of the Illinois
district were a military commandant and a civil judge. 3
A few French officers and missionaries had seen the pos-
sibilities of this region, but they were for the most part
undeveloped when, at the close of a long and desperate
war, France was compelled by the Treaty of Paris in
1763 to give up to England her claims to the territory
between the Ohio and the Mississippi. The uprising
of the western Indians under Pontiac prevented the
1 Mason, Old Fort Chartres, in Chapters from Illinois His-
tory; (also in Fergus Historical Series, No. 12).
2 Vivier in Thwaites, Jesuit Relations, LXIX., No. 220.
'Gayarre, Histoire de la Louisiane, I. 184-185, 270, 271, 287-
288; cf. Mason, Chapters from Illinois History, 217-226; Breese,
Early History of Illinois, Appendix E, F, G ; Pittman, Present
State of the European Settlements on the Mississippi, 53-54.
IO Government of Illinois
'British from taking possession for two years, but in
1765 a British commandant entered Fort Chartres. 1
5. BRITISH DOMINION AND ITS OVERTHROW.
1765-1783
British During the next thirteen years, the people of the
Illinois^ 1 Illinois country were subjects of the King of England.
Though claims were made by different colonies, the
King's proclamation of 1763 left Illinois, for a time at
least, outside the limits of any of them. 2 In 1774, how-
ever, the whole Northwest was included in the Canadian
Province of Quebec, much to the disgust of the other
English colonies. In the meantime, the Illinois country
was governed by British commandants supported by
British garrisons. A court was organized on the Eng-
lish model, but the Quebec Act of 1774 recognized
the old French civil law. 3 Though under British sov-
ereignty, the Illinois settlements kept their French
character. There were few new settlers and many of
the French inhabitants left Illinois and took refuge
across the river in the new settlements of St. Louis and
St. Genevieve, which France was just giving up to
Spain. Two of the old villages were almost deserted
in a few years. On the eve of the American Revolution
there were in Kaskaskia and the neighboring villages
nine hundred white people and about half as many negro
slaves.*
1 Documents rel. to Colonial History of New York, VII. 619,
685-690, 711, 765, 808, 816.
z Proclamation in Annual Register, 1763, 208-213.
8 Coffin, The Quebec Act, ch. 5 and Appendix I ; Mason, Chap-
ters from Illinois Plistory, 232-242.
* Hutchins, Topographical Description of Virginia, 36-40 and
Appendix I ; Pittman, Present State of the European Settle-
ments on the Mississippi, 42-55.
The Illinois Country and Its People 1 1
On the outbreak of the American Revolution, the Clark's con-
British withdrew their troops from the Illinois country, S"? st . of
J ' Illinois.
leaving a Frenchman by the name of Rocheblave in Illinois a
charge of British interests. 1 The frontiersmen of Vir- Virginia,
ginia and Kentucky soon became convinced that the Brit-
ish agents were instigating the Indians to attack the
American settlers. One of these frontiersmen, George
Rogers Clark, secured from Governor Patrick Henry
of Virginia a commission authorizing him to raise a
force for the purpose of attacking the Illinois posts.
Under this commission Clark captured Kaskaskia and
the adjoining villages in the summer of 1778; and in
1779 he made a brave winter march across Illinois to
Vincennes, where he captured Henry Hamilton, the
British governor at Detroit. 2 Virginia then laid claim
to the whole Northwest as granted by her colonial
charter of 1609. In October, 1778, the legislature
passed an act recognizing the French inhabitants of
Illinois as citizens of Virginia, and organizing the whole
country north of the Ohio into the "County of Illinois." 3
In 1779 Captain John Todd was appointed command-
ant and organized a temporary government under the
authority of Virginia. This Virginia government,
however, soon went to pieces. 4 In 1783 the treaty of
peace with Great Britain gave the Northwest to the
1 "Haldimand Papers" (in Michigan Pioneer Collections, IX.
349-35O.
2 See references for Virginia period, i.
* Hening, Statutes at Large, IX. 552-555-
* Henry, Patrick Henry, III. 212-216; John Todd, "Record
Book and Papers" (in Chicago Historical Society, Collections,
IV. 289-359) ' Boyd, "County of Illinois" (in American Histor-
ical Review, IV. 623-635).
12
Government of Illinois
Ordinances
for the gov-
ernment of
the North-
west.
The Ordi-
nance of
1787.
thirteen United States and in the following year Vir-
ginia ceded her special claim to the Union. 1
6. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 1784-1800
The first act passed by Congress for the government
of the Northwest Territory, including Illinois, was the
ordinance of 1784 which, however, never went into
effect. Congress then passed the land ordinance of
1785, establishing the principles of the township survey
system, under which the lands of the Northwest have
been laid out in townships of thirty-six square miles.
The first practical measure adopted by Congress for
the government of Illinois was the famous ordinance
of 1787, one of the last acts of the old Confederation.
This ordinance provided, first, a temporary form of
civil government for the whole Northwest. The chief
officers of this first organized Territory of the United
States were the governor, the judges, and a secretary,
all to be appointed by Congress. After the adoption of
the new constitution, it was provided that these appoint-
ments should be made by the President. 2 At the be-
ginning there was to be no representative assembly, but
the governor and judges were to adopt such laws of the
original thirteen States as they thought desirable for
the new Territory. When there were five thousand
free male inhabitants in the territory, there was to be a
representative assembly chosen by the freeholders and
a legislative council of five members selected by the
federal government from a list nominated by the repre-
sentatives. This legislature of two houses could then
1 Text of the deed in Hening, Statutes at Large, XI. 571-575.
Claims made to other parts of the territory by Massachusetts
and Connecticut were ceded in 1785 and 1786.
3 U. S. Statutes at Large, I. 50-53.
The Illinois Country and Its People 13
choose a delegate to Congress who had a right to be
heard, but not to vote. Finally, the people of the North-
west could look forward to membership in the Union
on an equal footing with the original States. Out of
the whole territory there were to be formed not less
than three, nor more than five States, any one of which
might be admitted to the Union whenever it had sixty
thousand inhabitants, or even earlier, if Congress
thought best. The Articles of Compact laid down a
few general principles on which these governments
should always rest. Their constitutions must be re-
publican. They must respect religious liberty and
secure to every man those rights of personal liberty
and protection to property which Englishmen and
Americans have long considered essential. Religion
and education were to be encouraged. The Indians
were to be fairly treated and their land was not to be
taken from them without their consent.
Three clauses of the ordinance are especially impor- Special pro-
tant for Illinois. The first secured to the settlers of ^^^'
the old French villages "who have heretofore professed nois. Pro-
themselves citizens of Virginia" their existing laws and hlblt
customs with regard to the transfer of property. The
second had to do with boundaries. The western State
of the Northwest Territory was to be bounded, as
Illinois now is, by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the
Wabash ; but its northern boundary might be pushed
northward to the Canadian frontier. Congress might,
however, form one or two States out of the region
north of a line drawn through the southerly bend of
Lake Michigan. If this line had been finally drawn
between the northern and southern tiers of States, Chi-
cago would have been a part of Wisconsin. The third
clause of special interest to Illinois was the sixth article
14 Government of Illinois
of the compact, which provided that "there shall be
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said
Territory otherwise than in punishment of crimes,
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
This clause, if literally enforced, would have deprived
the people of the old French villages of a considerable
number of slaves which they then held as property. It
really helped to make Illinois ultimately a free State.
Organization Government under this ordinance was set up in 1788
governments ky Governor St. Clair at Marietta in what is now Ohio,
in Illinois. and in 1790 the Illinois country was organized as St.
Clair County and received a regular local government.
The county, however, included only the southwestern
part of Illinois, and the eastern part was combined with
the Vincennes settlements (now a part of Indiana) in
the county of Knox. Five years later the southern
part of St. Clair County was set apart as Randolph
County with Kaskaskia as its county seat. The chief
officers of each county were appointed by the governor
of the Territory. 1
Early The beginnings of American government in Illinois
problems. we re unsatisfactory. The French settlers feared that
their slaves would be taken from them, and many of
them left Illinois for the Spanish territory across the
river. In order to check this emigration Governor
St. Clair declared that the ordinance was not intended
to affect slaves already held in the Territory. There
was also much confusion about land titles, which was
not cleared up for many years. 2 Finally, the country
was disturbed by the hostility of the Indians. In 1795
General Wayne compelled the Indians to negotiate the
treaty of Greenville, opening up new territory for white
1 Smith, St. Clair Papers, IT. 137, 164-180.
"Ibid., 117-120, 176, 396-403.
The Illinois Country and Its People 15
settlers, but still reserving nearly all of Illinois to the
Indians. 1
In spite of these discouragements, a few American American
settlers had come from the seaboard States into Illinois, P loneers -
including a few of Clark's soldiers. Some of them
settled in the old French villages, but others founded
new American communities, almost all of them near
the Mississippi between Kaskaskia and Cahokia. These
American settlers, however, hardly more than made up
for the French who had crossed the river. In 1800
there were scarcely three thousand people, not includ-
ing Indians, within the present limits of Illinois. In
the political life of these frontier villages Americans
were already taking the lead. When, in 1798, the two
Illinois counties chose each its representative to the first
assembly of the Northwest Territory, neither sent a
Frenchman. 2
7. ILLINOIS IN THE INDIANA TERRITORY. 1800-1809
In 1800 the people of Ohio were anxious for admis- The Indiana
sion to the Union as a State. The first step in this Territor y-.
direction was the division of the Territory, the western
part, including Illinois, being organized into the Terri-
tory of Indiana. This Indiana Territory, like the "Old
Northwest," was at first governed by a governor and
judges appointed by the President. In 1804, however,
the freeholders voted in favor of a representative assem-
bly, which was organized in 1805. The Illinois counties
1 Text of the treaty in U. S. Statutes at Large, VII. (Indian
Treaties) ; also in Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I.,
Appendix.
' Mason, Lists of Early Illinois Citizens (in Chicago Histor-
ical Society's Collections, IV.) ; Perkins and Peck, Annals of
the West, Appendix, ch. 2, i ; Second U. S. Census; Smith,
St. Clair Papers, II. 438-439-
i6
Government of Illinois
The
Louisiana
Purchase.
Indian
treaties.
Land titles.
chose three of the seven members of the House of
Representatives and had two of the five Councillors. 1
During this short period some important changes
took place. One of these events was the purchase of
Louisiana. For forty years the west bank of the Mis-
sissippi had belonged to Spain. When the Illinois
settler crossed the river to do business in St. Louis, he
entered a foreign country. When he sent his products
to the Gulf of Mexico, his trade was liable to restric-
tions imposed by the same power which also held New
Orleans. In 1803 the Province of Louisiana, after
being first ceded to France, was then sold by the Em-
peror Napoleon to the United States and the Illinois
country was for the first time in its history surrounded
on every side by the territories of the American Union.
A second important event of this period was the nego-
tiation of several Indian treaties which opened to white
settlement a large part of southern Illinois which
Wayne's treaty of 1795 had reserved to the Indians. 2
William Henry Harrison, the governor of the Territory
during the whole of this period, was very active in this
work, which was probably the most important feature
of his administration. These large land cessions, how-
ever, caused serious dissatisfaction among the Indians.
Tecumseh and other far-seeing Indian chiefs tried to
get combined action by the tribes, in order to prevent
the piece-meal surrendering of their land to the United
States, and the constant friction between the two races
led in 1811 to another Indian war. 3
Settlement in the Territory was still checked by the
1 U. S. Statutes at Large, 6th Cong., ist sess., ch. 41 ; Dillon,
History of Indiana, 414-416.
2 U. S. Statutes at Large, VII. 78-79.
'Dillon, History of Indiana, ch. 33.
The Illinois Country and Its People 17
old confusion with regard to land titles. In 1804, how-
ever, Congress established land offices at Vincennes, on
the Indiana side of the Wabash, and at Kaskaskia.
Commissioners were appointed to examine the old land
claims in order that future grants might be made in an
orderly way. Several years passed, however, before
they made their final report. 1
Many people in the Territory believed that more The slavery
settlers would come in if slavery could be made legal. que!
A number of efforts were made to repeal the famous
"Sixth Article" of the ordinance, and in 1806 a com-
mittee of the federal House of Representatives reported
in favor of the proposal. Congress refused to repeal
the article prohibiting slavery, but there was no inter-
ference with the slaves already in the Territory, and
the Territorial legislature passed indenture laws, which
made possible the holding of negroes on terms little
better than slavery, even if not technically in conflict
with the ordinance. 2
The Indiana Territory had scarcely been organized The Indiana
when the people of the western counties began to think ^"^ y
it inconvenient to transact legal and official business at
Vincennes, then the seat of government. After several
unsuccessful efforts, a bill was passed by Congress on
February 3, 1809, dividing the Indiana Territory into
two governments. 3
1 U. S. Statutes at Large, II., 337-338; American State Papers,
Public Lands, I. 285, 590; II. 123-127.
2 Hinsdale, The Old Northwest, ch. 18 ; Dillon, History of In-
diana, chs. 31, 32; American State Papers, Public Lands, I. 160;
Annals of Congress, Qth Cong., 1st session, 466-468.
8 House Journals (Reprints), V. 611; Annals of Congress,
9th Cong., passim; loth Cong., 2nd session, 971, 1093-1095;
U. S. Statutes at Large, II, 514.
2
18
Government of Illinois
Area and
population.
The govern-
ment of the
Territory.
8. THE ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 1809-1818
The act of 1809 defined the new Territory of Illinois
as "all that part of the Indiana Territory which lies west
of the Wabash River, and a direct line drawn from the
said Wabash River and Post Vincennes, due north to
the territorial line between the United States and Can-
ada." This meant that outside the present limits of
the State, the Territory included all of Wisconsin ex-
cept the northern end of the Green Bay peninsula, a
large part of the northern peninsula of Michigan, and
all of Minnesota east of the Mississippi. In this Terri-
tory there were, according to the census of 1810, 12,282
people, all but a few hundred of whom were in southern
Illinois on or near the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
The majority of the settlers were now Americans from
the older parts of the Union. They came chiefly from
the slave holding States, but the number of slaves was
small. There were, however, about six hundred other
negroes, many of whom were probably held much like
slaves under the so-called "indenture law." 1
For the first three years of separate government, the
people of Illinois went back to the first stage of Terri-
torial government, conducted without a representative
assembly, by a governor, a secretary, and judges, all
appointed by the President, the governor being Ninian
Edwards of Kentucky. In April, 1812, the people voted
in favor of a representative assembly, which was grant-
ed to them by Congress in the same year. The new
Territorial constitution of Illinois was more liberal than
the Ordinance of 1787. All male taxpayers, who had
lived in the Territory, could vote. The people could
1 Return of the Whole Number of Persons, 1810 (Third cen-
sus), 87.
The Illinois Country and Its People 19
elect directly the Councillors as well as the members of
the House of Representatives. The people also chose
directly their Territorial delegate to Congress. The
first representative legislature of the new Territory met
at Kaskaskia on November 25, I8I2. 1
During the early years of the Illinois Territory, its Border
growth was checked by serious Indian troubles, which warar e<
finally resulted in open war. In 1811 General Harri-
son defeated the Indians at Tippecanoe, but when the
War of 1812 broke out the Indians generally took the
British side. The most terrible affair of this war in
Illinois was the Massacre of Fort Dearborn, on the
present site of Chicago, in which not only soldiers but
also women and children were killed or taken captive
by the Indians. 2 The border warfare continued through
the next two years, but after the treaty with England
had been signed several Indian treaties were negotiated,
restoring peace and opening the way for new settle-
ments. 3
The immigration which had been checked by the war Public
increased rapidly after it was over and was encouraged lands-
by the action of the United States government with
regard to the public lands. The claims of the settlers
under the British, French, and Virginian governments
were finally cleared up, so that the incoming settlers
could have secure titles to their lands. A preemption
law was passed granting those who had already settled
on the public lands a first right to buy, thus giving them
an advantage over speculators. Lands could be bought
1 Executive Register (in Illinois State Hist. Library, Publica-
tions, III. 23, 26, 27) ; Journal of Legislative Council, ibid., 62.
2 Wentworth, Fort Dearborn (Fergus Historical Series), Ap-
pendix.
8 U. S. Statutes at Large, VII. (Indian Treaties) 123-147.
2O Government of Illinois
at the low price of two dollars an acre and payments
could be made in istallments. Two new land offices
were established in Illinois, one at Shawneetown on the
Ohio, and another at Edwardsville on the Mississippi
above Kaskaskia. 1 All these measures resulted in large
sales of public lands. In the last year of the War of
1812 about eight thousand acres were sold at the Illi-
nois land offices. Four years later the total amount
sold for the year was more than half a million acres. 2
New county As the Territory grew new county governments were
governments. or g an i ze( j. j n jgog there were only two; in the next
nine years thirteen new counties were organized, almost
all of which were for the government of settlements in
the southern third of the State near the great rivers. 3
The growth of population shown in the organization of
these new counties had also been preparing the Ter-
ritory for another advance in self-government. When
Congress met in the winter of 1817-1818, it was asked
to pass a bill admitting Illinois to the Union as a State.
1 U. S. Statutes at Large, II. 797 ; Illinois State Historical
Library, Publications, III. 109-111 ; Donaldson, Public Domain,
203-204.
* American State Papers, Finance, II. 657, 852 ; III. 284, 285.
'Executive Register (in Illinois State Historical Library,
Publications, III. 3-4, 26) ; Moses, Illinois Historical and Sta-
tistical, I. 547; cf. map at I. 277.
CHAPTER II
THE OLD FRONTIER STATE 1818-1848
9. REFERENCES
Secondary Authorities : Harris, Negro Servitude in Illi-
nois; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I., chs. 19-31
and Appendix ; II., ch. 32 and Appendix ; Davidson and Stuve,
History of Illinois, chs. XXVI.-XLV. ; Blanchard, Discovery
and Conquests of the Northwest with the History of Chicago;
Anthony, Constitutional History of Illinois, chs. 12-21 ; Wash-
burne,Governor Coles and the Slavery Struggle in Illinois;
Edwards, History of Illinois from 1778-1833 and Life of
Ninian Edwards.
Sources : ( i ) Contemporary writers : Ford, History of Illi-
nois; Brown, History of Illinois; Reynolds, Pioneer History of
Illinois; Reynolds, My Own Times; Illinois in 1837; Gerhard,
Illinois As It Is; Washburne, ed., The Edwards Papers; Pat-
terson, Early Society in Southern Illinois {Fergus Historical
Series, No. 14). See also various other numbers in the same
series, especially on Chicago. (2) Documents : Annals of Con-
gress, i$th Congress; House Journal and Senate Journal of the
same Congress ; Enabling act and first and second constitutions
in Hurd, Revised Statutes of Illinois; Journal of the Constitu-
tional Convention (1847) ; Laws of the State of Illinois (the
"session laws") 1818-1848; House Journals and Senate Journals
of the General Assembly; Reports to the General Assembly.
For list of State documents, see Bowker, State Publications,
Part II., 229-249.
10. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
On January 16, 1818, Mr. Nathaniel Pope, the Illi- The enabling
nois delegate in Congress, presented to the House of ctngrew.
Representatives a petition from the Territorial legisla-
ture asking for State government and admission to the
Union, and this petition was referred to a committee,
21
22 Government of Illinois
of which Mr. Pope was chairman. He soon reported
a bill "to enable the people of the Illinois territory to
form a constitution and state government and for the
admission of such state into the Union on an equal
footing with the original states." 1 Two important
amendments were afterwards adopted on motion of
Mr. Pope himself. The first fixed the northern bound-
ary at 42 30', thus disregarding the Ordinance of 1787
which proposed a line drawn through the southerly
bend of Lake Michigan. This amendment gave to
Illinois its present frontage on the lake with fourteen
of the present northern counties, including Chicago.
Mr. Pope argued that this would give Illinois a closer
connection with the middle States and so "would afford
additional security for the perpetuity of the Union."
He also thought that in this way more attention would
be drawn to the plans for a canal between Lake Michi-
gan and the Illinois River and for improving the harbor
of Chicago. A second important amendment provided
that a part of the proceeds of the sales of public lands
in Illinois should be given to the State for the support
of education. 2 A few other amendments were made,
but there was little opposition to the bill, which after
being passed by both houses was signed by President
Monroe April 18, 1818.
Provisions This enabling act gave to the people the right to
of the form a State constitution on certain conditions laid
enabling act.
1 House Journal, isth Cong., ist sess., 151, 174.
2 Ibid., 423-424, 428, 492 ; Annals of Congress, isth Cong., II.
1677-1678; Senate Journal, 328, 342, 354, 357. For the Wis-
consin view of this change from the ordinance of 1787, see
Thwaites, The Boundaries of Wisconsin (in Wisconsin Histor-
ical Society, Collections, XI. 494-501). Efforts were made
(1838-46) to restore the old boundary line.
The Old Frontier State 23
down by Congress. There was to be a constitutional
convention, the members of which were to be chosen by
the white male citizens who had been six months in
the Territory. The delegates must first decide whether
they would have a State government at all. After that
had been decided, they could either call a new conven-
tion to frame the constitution or they could do the work
themselves. Nothing was said about giving the people
a chance to vote on the constitution. The only condi-
tions imposed by Congress with regard to the form of
the government were that it must be republican in form
and not in conflict with the Ordinance of 1787 except
in the matter of boundaries. Congress did not, how-
ever, promise to recognize the new State unless a spe-
cial census should show at least forty thousand inhab-
itants. 1
A rather doubtful census was taken which was made The conven-
to show a little over the required number. 2 The con- tlon of
vention was elected in July and assembled at Kaskaskia
in August, 1818. Thirty-two members signed the fin-
ished constitution. Most of them were farmers, but
among the very few lawyers, there was one young man,
Elias Kent Kane, who probably had the most influence
in forming the constitution. The journal of the con-
vention has been lost, but the most exciting debate was
probably on the subject of slavery. A compromise was
finally adopted providing that "neither slavery nor in-
voluntary servitude shall hereafter be introduced into
this State." The old indentures of negroes were rec-
ognized, but future ones of a similar kind were forbid-
1 U. S. Statutes at Large, III. 428.
2 Brown, Early History of Illinois (in Fergus Historical Se-
ries, XIV.) ; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I. 282.
24 Government of Illinois
den. Until 1825, negro slaves from other States might
be employed in the salt works about Shawneetown. 1
The first There was little originality about the constitution.
00 ' ^ was m deled on those of the neighboring States of
Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, though one important
provision was taken from New York. 2 The powers of
government were to be distributed among three depart-
ments, executive, judicial and legislative, which were to
be kept as distinct as possible from each other. 3 The
chief executive power was given to the governor, elected
by the people for a four year term, with a lieutenant-
governor to take his place, if necessary. 4 The legisla-
tive power was given to the general assembly consisting
of a house of representatives and a senate. Both the
governor and the members of the general assembly were
chosen on a very liberal suffrage. All white male in-
habitants who had lived in the State six months were
allowed to vote. Bills which had been passed by both
houses of the general assembly were sent to a Council
of Revision consisting of the governor and the judges.
If the Council objected to the bill, it might still become
law if passed again by a majority of all the members
elected in each house. 5 The judicial power was given
to a supreme court and such inferior courts as the leg-
islature might establish. The judges were elected by
the general assembly, and like the Federal judges held
1 Brown, Early History of Illinois, 86-88; Ford, History of
Illinois, 24; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I. 282-
283 ; Constitution of Illinois, 1818, Art. VI., in Kurd, Revised
Statutes.
3 Compare these constitutions in Poore, Charters and Consti-
tutions.
* Constitution of Illinois, 1818, Art. I.
Ibid., Art. III.
6 Ibid., Art. II., Art. III. 19.
The Old Frontier State 25
office during good behavior. They could be removed
by impeachment or by an address agreed to by two-
thirds of the members of each house. 1 The most im-
portant area of local government in the State as a whole
was the county, which was governed by three elective
county commissioners. The people of each county
elected also a sheriff and a coroner. 2 On the whole,
however, comparatively few officers were elected by
the people. The governor's appointing power was also
comparatively small under this constitution. The re-
sult was that most appointments came to be made by
the general assembly, an experiment which does not
seem to have worked well. 3
The constitution was signed August 26 and the first First State
election for State officers was held in September. Shad- electlons -
rach Bond, formerly a Territorial delegate, was elected
governor, and Pierre Menard, the most prominent of
the French settlers, lieutenant-governor. A represent-
ative in Congress was also chosen, and in October the
newly elected legislature chose two United States sen-
ators. The governor and all three of the State's repre-
sentatives in Congress were natives of slave-holding
States. 4
The State now presented itself with its new constitu- The state
tion for final admission into the Union. Some anti- l dmi T " ed to
the Union.
slavery congressmen objected because slavery was not
altogether prohibited, but the joint resolution recogniz-
ing Illinois as a State of the Union was finally passed
by large majorities in both houses, and on December 3,
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1818, Art. IV.
'Ibid., Art. III. 11 ; Schedule, 4.
k lbid.; cf. Art. III. 22 with the schedule 10.
'Ford, History of Illinois, 26-29; Moses, Illinois Historical
ind Statistical, I. ch. 20.
26
Government of Illinois
the resolution became a law by the signature of Presi-
dent Monroe. On the next day, the Illinois members
were admitted to both houses of Congress and Illinois
was at last in full possession of all the rights and privi-
leges of Statehood in the American Union. 1
The
frontier.
The people
of the new
State.
ii. FRONTIER CONDITIONS
The people of the new State lived on the border line
between settled life and the wilderness. Beyond them
to the northwest in what afterwards became the States
of Iowa and Wisconsin there were for many years only
a few hundred white people living in widely scattered
garrisons or trading posts. In 1818, the northern half
of Illinois was almost wholly unoccupied by white set-
tlers, and even in the southern half the settlements were
often separated by long stretches of wilderness. Com-
munication with the seaboard was slow and difficult and
was for many years carried on mainly by the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers. Steamboats were just beginning to
ply on the western waters.
The people of this frontier State were chiefly Ameri-
cans from the older States. Governor Ford, who was
then living in the State, estimated that in 1818, there
were only about two thousand descendants of the orig-
inal French settlers. They were kindly, social people,
but unenterprising for the most part, and they exerted
only a very slight influence on the subsequent develop-
ment of the State. There were also comparatively few
immigrants of foreign birth. The American settlers
had come almost wholly from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
1 Annals of Congress, 15th Cong., 2nd sess., I. 296-298, 305-
311; Resolution No. i in U. S. Statutes at Large, III. 536;
House Journal, 60, 61, and Senate Journal, 52.
The Old Frontier State 27
the South. The most important immigration came
from the border slave-holding States, Maryland, Vir-
ginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Few of these southern
immigrants, however, belonged to the rich slave-holding
class of the tide-water country. They were partly poor
whites and partly of the "small-farmer" class. Some,
at least, had felt the demoralizing influence of slavery
upon free white labor and were glad to come to a
country where slavery was prohibited. In 1820, there
were only about fourteen hundred negroes in the State
out of a total population of over fifty-five thousand.
Of these fourteen hundred, 917 were counted as slaves. 1
The more restless part of the population could still Economic
devote themselves largely to hunting and fishing, but
the great majority were farmers. There were no man-
ufactures of any importance and little commerce either
within the State or with places outside of it. The aver-
age family had to supply its own needs in large part;
not only in food, but in clothing and furniture. Not a
single town in the State had more than a few hundred
inhabitants and the most important trading centre
within easy reach of Illinois people was St. Louis. The
political wants of such a people were naturally few and
simple. 2
12. PROGRESS. 1818-1848
One of the most important factors in the development Public land
of the State as well as of the Territory was the public ^united
1 Ford, History of Illinois, 35-38; Patterson, Early Society in
Southern Illinois (in Fergus Historical Series, XIV.), 104-105,
112-114; Reynolds, My Own Times (ed. 1855), 60-65; U. S.
Census for 1820.
1 Patterson, Early Society in Southern Illinois; Reynolds, My
Own Times, ch. 35; Ford, History, 41-45.
28 Government of Illinois
land policy of the United States government. In 1818
there were two serious difficulties in the management
of the public lands in Illinois. One was the inability
of many settlers, who had bought their land partly on
credit, to make their payments. These payments could
hardly have been enforced without causing dangerous
discontent in all the western States. Another was the
occupation of public lands by "squatters" who had no
intention of paying anything themselves and were likely
to make it disagreeable for anyone who might after-
wards buy the land from the United States. The gov-
ernment met these difficulties by a series of important
measures. Those who were already in debt were given
somewhat easier terms of payment, but for the future
all public lands had to be paid for in full when they
were bought. At the same time, the price was reduced
from $2.00 an acre to $1.25. A few years later, Con-
gress took another important step by adopting, as a
general policy, the principle of preemption or preference
to existing settlers, which had already been applied to
settlers who had come into Illinois before 1813. The
result of all these measures was that the settlers who
now came to Illinois could secure at low prices land
which was surveyed according to a definite and con-
venient system and to which they could obtain safe
titles. 1
The Indian For some years after the admission of the State, the
problem. Indian problem was still important. The United States
government steadily carried out its policy of buying up
the Indian claims and transferring the tribes to land
1 U. S. Statutes at Large, III. 566, 612 ; Burnet, Notes on the
Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory, 450-455 ; Patter-
son, Early Society in Southern Illinois, 107 ; Donaldson, Public
Domain, ch. 10.
The Old Frontier State 29
west of the Mississippi ; but the final withdrawal of the
Indians was not accomplished without some outbreaks.
In 1827, there was a small outbreak of the Winnebagoes
and a few other Indians in the northwestern part of the
State, which was easily disposed of. 1 A more serious
affair was the war with the Sacs and Foxes, which is
best known as the Black Hawk War. The Sacs and
Foxes who occupied territory in northern Illinois had
ceded their lands in 1804 and the cession had been con-
firmed after the War of 1812. The Indians, however,
were allowed to occupy these lands until they were sold
by the United States government to private settlers. 2
As settlers began to come in, there was as usual trouble
between them and the Indians. The Federal Govern-
ment then tried to get the Indians to move across the
Mississippi and most of them did so; but a warlike
party among them led by Black Hawk, a Sac chief, re-
fused to recognize the treaties or to give up their lands
on the Illinois side. In 1831, Governor Reynolds
called on the regular army and the militia to defend the
State against what he called the invasion of Black
Hawk and his followers. The Indians could not resist
this force and agreed to leave the State. The next year,
however, Black Hawk came back and a small war
resulted in northern Illinois and Wisconsin. The final
result was, of course, the crushing defeat of the In-
dians; many of them were killed and Black Hawk
himself became a prisoner. 3 The "Black Hawk War"
1 Ford, History of Illinois, 66-69. War Department reports in
American State Papers, Military Affairs, III. 617; IV. i.
2 U. S. Statutes at Large, VII. (Indian Treaties), 84-87, 134-
136, 140-142.
'Report of the Secretary of War (1832), in American State
Papers, Military Affairs, V. 18, 23-25; reports of the Major-
30 Government of Illinois
is important chiefly because it was the last stand of
the Indian against the white settler in Illinois. In
his annual report for 1833, Lewis Cass, the Secretary
of War under Jackson, was able to say that with a
few exceptions, none of which were in Illinois, the
States of the Northwest had been "cleared of the em-
barrassments of Indian relations, and the Indians them-
selves have either already emigrated, or have stipu-
lated to do so within limited periods." This meant
a clear field in Illinois for the white settler. 1
Not only was Illinois becoming more attractive to
new settlers; it was also being brought nearer to the
seaboard by improved means of travel. On the Ohio
river, which had been the great highway between the
East and West, steamboats were crowding out the old
barges and flatboats. By 1836, a small part of the
overland journey from the east could be made by steam
railroads and these were being gradually extended.
The Erie Canal and steamboats on the lakes made it
possible to go by water from Albany to Chicago and
so encouraged immigration into Illinois from New
York and New England. 2
As a result of these changes the population of Illinois
increased from a little over 55,000 in 1820 to over
850,000 in 1850, or about fifteen times. This new
population came largely from the free States of the
Northeast and settled in the northern half of the State.
There were, however, many foreign immigrants, chiefly
General commanding the Army, ibid., IV. 717; V. 29-31 ; Ford,
History, chs. 4-5 ; Reynolds, My Own Times, chs. 72-93.
1 American State Papers, Military Affairs, V. 172.
2 Hall, The West; Its Commerce and Navigation, ch. 8; Peck,
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West, ch. 15 (ed. 1837).
The Old Frontier State 31
German and Irish. One of the most striking features
of this development was the growth of Chicago. It
was incorporated as a village in 1833 and as a city in
1837, but even in 1840, there were less than four thou-
sand inhabitants. It was developing rapidly, however,
as a lake port, and by 1850 had a population of nearly
thirty thousand. 1
13. PROBLEMS OF GOVERNMENT. 1818-1847
Slavery had existed among the French settlers of Slavery.
Illinois long before it became American territory, and
their right to this kind of property had been respected
by the United States government in spite of the Ordi-
nance of 1787. Still the "Sixth Article" remained on
the statute books in spite of all attempts to repeal it.
Slavery continued to exist, but its growth was effect-
ually checked. The constitution of 1818 had been a
compromise and so did not satisfy either party. A
determined effort was soon made to break down the
barrier against slavery in Illinois. In 1823, the legisla-
ture passed and submitted to the people a resolution
calling for a convention to amend the constitution. It
was understood that the constitution was to be made
more favorable to slavery. Fortunately the anti-slavery
party had a strong leader in Governor Edward Coles, a
former Virginia slave owner who had freed his slaves.
The vote was not taken until 1824, and in the mean- The slavery
time there was a vigorous debate all over the State. c ntrovers y-
1823-1824.
The proslavery men claimed that while Illinois was
suffering from "hard times," desirable immigrants were
passing through to Missouri, which had just been ad-
1 Compendium of the Seventh Census, 40; cf. Moses, Illinois
Historical and Statistical, I., II., Appendices.
Government of Illinois
Status of
the negro
after 1824.
The Mor-
mons in
Illinois.
mitted as a slave State. The southern born settlers
were not all, however, on the proslavery side. Next to
Governor Coles, the most important politician of the
anti-slavery party was probably Congressman Cook,
who came from Kentucky. Two other important anti-
slavery leaders were Morris Birkbeck, one of the
founders of an English colony in Edwards County, and
Rev. John M. Peck, a Baptist minister from Connecti-
cut. The majority in the older southern counties of
the State was in favor of the convention, but the new
counties to the north gave so overwhelming a majority
against it, that the pro-slavery party was decisively
beaten. 1
The people of Illinois were not, however, radical
abolitionists or believers in the equality of the races.
Though the number of slaves gradually diminished,
slavery was not absolutely abolished until 1848. The
free negro could not vote, or give his testimony against
a white man and he was treated in general as belonging
to an inferior race. Yet after all, the great fact was
that Illinois was to be a free State, where the labor of
freemen would not have to come into degrading com-
petition with the labor of slaves.
The anti-slavery victory in 1824 had prevented the
immigration of one undesirable element, the negro
slaves. Twenty years later, the people of the State by
various means, lawful and unlawful, excluded another
class of people who seemed to them objectionable. The
Mormon Church founded by Joseph Smith in New
York had been set up for a time in Missouri. This
settlement, however, was soon broken up and they took
refuge in Illinois. Thomas Ford, then governor, esti-
1 Washburne, Sketch of Edward Coles.
The Old Frontier State 33
mated that by 1843 there were 16,000 of these people
in Hancock County, besides a large number in other
counties. They secured liberal charters from the State
legislature, and set up at Nauvoo on the Mississippi a
peculiar and largely independent government of their
own, with Joseph Smith at its head. Soon, however,
they got into trouble with their neighbors and were
charged with polygamy and other kinds of lawless con-
duct. By 1844, a small civil war had broken out in
Hancock County between the Mormons and their
enemies. The State government tried to settle the
difficulties in an orderly way, but the spirit of mob
violence was too strong. Joseph Smith and his brother,
who had been arrested and put in jail, were taken out
by a mob and murdered. After two years of confusion
and bloodshed, the Mormons were finally forced out
of the State in I846. 1
During these early years, the State government made Financial
some unfortunate business experiments. One of these
was State banking. In 1821, when money was scarce
and people were suffering from hard times, the gen-
eral assembly chartered a State bank, with several
branches, which was intended to do business on the
credit of the State. The bank was to issue notes and
lend them on easy terms to private individuals. The
experiment was an utter failure. The bank finally
went to pieces, and in 1831 its affairs were cleared up
by the State, which had to borrow what was then con-
sidered a large sum of money to redeem the depre-
1 Ford, History of Illinois, chs. 10, n, 13 ; Moses, Illinois His-
torical and Statistical, I., ch. 30; Illinois Senate Reports, 1846-7,
34 Government of Illinois
dated notes. 1 In 1835, another State bank was chart-
ered. This also was badly managed and during the
great panic of 1837 na ^ to suspend payment. Its notes
depreciated in value until finally it went to pieces in
1842. This was the last attempt of the State to go
into the banking business. 2
internal im- The State also undertook to carry out great plans of
provements. j nterna i improvement. One of these, the Illinois and
Michigan Canal, was successful. The idea of a canal
connecting Lake Michigan with the Illinois River and
so with the Mississippi had been talked of for many
years. Grants of land were made for this purpose by
the United States, and in 1835 the legislature finally
authorized a loan for the building of the canal. Work
was begun in 1836 ; by April, 1848, the canal was ready
for use along its whole length; and during the next
twenty years it was an important highway of com-
merce. 8 In other schemes, the State was much less
successful. In 1837, tne legislature appropriated ten
millions of dollars for a great system of railroads and
other internal improvements. Money was borrowed
and some work was actually begun ; but, after running
up a heavy debt and bringing the State to the verge of
bankruptcy, the great "system" was finally abandoned
in 1840. About fifty miles of railroad had been finished
and this was afterwards sold by the State at a heavy
loss. 4
x Ford, History of Illinois, 45-48; Laws of Illinois, 1821, 80-
93 ; 1831, 178-185.
1 Ford, History of Illinois, chs. 6, 7; Laws of Illinois, 1835,
7-22 ; 1843, 21-26.
8 Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I., ch. 29 ; Ford,
History of Illinois, 179-181, 370-395.
4 Laws of the State of Illinois, 1837, 121-151 ; ibid., 1840, 166-
168; Ford, History of Illinois, 182-198; Moses, Illinois His-
The Old Frontier State 35
As a result of these reckless experiments, the State The state
had incurred a heavy debt, its credit was seriously in- debt
jured and its bonds were selling below par. The fever
for speculation and the depreciated currency had left
the people so poor that they could hardly find ready
money to pay the existing taxes, even without the new
ones which were needed if the debt was to be paid.
There was some talk of repudiating either the whole
debt or a part of it. From this disgrace, the State was
saved largely by the courage and intelligent leadership
of Governor Thomas Ford, who came into office in
December, 1842. Acting largely on his advice, the
legislature adopted a plan by which the debt could be
gradually reduced without imposing too heavy a burden
of taxes upon the people at any one time. Illinois had
passed through a trying crisis, but she had come out of
it with honor. 1
While the State was working at these financial and Public
industrial problems, some progress had also been made schools -
with public education. At first the school lands which
had been granted by the United States had brought in
little or no revenue, and a law passed in 1825 authoriz-
ing the people, of each locality to tax themselves for the
support of schools was so unpopular that it was soon
repealed. A little later, however, many of the towns
sold their school lands and used the money for the sup-
port of free public schools. In the meantime a few
colleges had been founded by people connected with
torical and Statistical, I., ch. 28; Davidson and Stuve, History
of Illinois, 442-448.
1 Senate Journal, 1842-3, 33-34 (Governor Ford's message) ;
Session Laws, 1843, 21-36, 287, 191-194; Ford, History of Illi-
nois, 291-310; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, I.,
ch. 29.
Government of Illinois
Formation
of political
parties.
Illinois con-
servative on
the slavery
question.
various religious denominations and the teachers in
them took an active part in awakening public opinion
in favor of a complete school system. At first, how-
ever, these colleges were looked upon with suspicion
and had great difficulty in securing charters of incor-
poration. 1
14. EARLY POLITICS OF THE STATE
At first political contests in Illinois were almost wholly
personal. Prominent politicians had their followers
but there were no organized parties as there are to-day.
During the thirties, however, the two great national
parties calling themselves Democrats and Whigs ap-
peared in Illinois as in other parts of the country. The
Democratic party was the first to adopt the policy of
nominating conventions, which was afterwards taken
up by the Whigs. The Democrats always had a much
stronger organization and the Whigs were never able
to elect a governor or more than a small minority of the
congressmen. 2
For a quarter of a century, the political leaders of
the State were mainly men of southern birth. Every
one of the first six governors came to Illinois from the
South and all but one were natives of slave-holding
States. During the same period, Illinois elected eight
men as senators and eight men as representatives in
Congress. Of the eight senators one was born in
Illinois and one in New York. The rest came from
Maryland, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Of the
eight representatives, all, with possibly one exception,
1 Pillsbury,ar/y Education in Illinois (in i6th Biennial Report
of the Superintendent of Public Instruction), CIV.-CLXIV.
2 Ford, History of Illinois, especially chs. 2, 3, 8 ; cf. Sheahan,
Douglas, chs. 2, 3.
The Old Frontier State 37
came to Illinois from Kentucky or Tennessee. 1 It was
natural, therefore, that Illinois should have little sym-
pathy with radical views on the slavery question. In
1837 both houses of the legislature passed resolutions
condemning anti-slavery agitation. In the same year,
Elijah P. Love joy was murdered by a mob at Alton and
conservative men like the governor of the State, while
condemning mob violence, thought Lovejoy himself
largely responsible. 2 In Congress, the Illinois repre-
sentatives voted solidly for the first of the so-called
"gag rules" intended to prevent the consideration of
abolitionist petitions, and when the last of these rules
was repealed in 1844, only two of the seven Illinois
representatives voted on the anti-slavery side. 3 These
two men, however, stood for a minority which was
steadily gaining in strength, especially in northern Illi-
nois, largely as the result of the increasing "Yankee"
immigration.
15. THE CONVENTION OF 1847 AND THE NEW
CONSTITUTION
After nearly thirty years of growth and experiment The second
constitutional changes were naturally thought desirable, Constitution
partly to correct mistakes and partly to meet the changed adopted,
conditions. Under the first constitution, amendments
could only be made by the calling of a convention. In
1841, the legislature voted in favor of such a conven-
1 Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, passim; Bateman
and Selby, Historical Encyclopaedia of Illinois.
2 Kirby, Biographical Sketch of Joseph Duncan (Fergus Hist.
Series, 29); Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, I., ch. 8; Lincoln,
Works, I. 15.
3 Cong. Globe, 24th Cong., ist sess., 505 ; ibid., 28th Cong., 2nd
sess., 7.
38 Government of Illinois
tion, but the resolution was not ratified by the people.
In 1846, however, another resolution was ratified by a
large majority. 1 The convention met June 7, 1847,
and finished its work August 31. Among its members,
there was a considerable number of eminent lawyers.
Two had served as judges of the State Supreme Court
and one (David Davis) afterwards became a justice
of the Supreme Court of the United States. The new
constitution was submitted to a vote of the people at a
special election held in March, 1848, and was ratified
by a majority of nearly four to one. Two articles to
which there had been opposition were submitted sepa-
rately and these also were adopted by somewhat smaller
majorities. The new constitution finally went into
effect April I, i848. 2
The work of the convention of 1847 can be best un-
derstood by comparing the constitution which it adopted
with that of 1818. In one respect, it was less demo-
cratic. The constitution of 1818 gave the right to vote
to all free white male inhabitants and under this pro-
vision foreigners were allowed to vote before being
naturalized. The new constitution allowed only citi-
zens of the United States to vote. 3 In general, how-
ever, the new constitution was much more democratic,
because it provided for more direct action by the people
themselves in the work of government. This is seen,
first, in the provision that the new constitution should
be submitted to the people for their approval. This
1 Laws of Illinois, 1841, 359 ; ibid., 1847, 33-36 ; Senate Reports,
1846-7, 73-76.
2 Journal of the Convention, 1847; Laws of the State of Illi-
nois, 1849, 3 ; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical, II., ch.
32 ; Davidson and Stuve, History of Illinois, ch. 44.
* Constitution of Illinois, 1848, Art. VI. i ; cf. Sheahan, Ste-
phen A. Douglas, 44-47.
The Old Frontier State 39
had not been done in iSiS. 1 Even in the making of
laws, the legislature was required in certain cases to
submit its action to a popular vote, or what would be
called today a referendum. 2 The people also had much
more to do with the choice of public officers. Under
the constitution of 1818, some were appointed by the
governor, a very large number by the legislature, and
very few by the people. This system had worked badly
and the legislature particularly had been demoralized
by having so much patronage to distribute. Under the
new constitution, nearly all important State and local
officers were to be elected by the people. Even the
judges who had previously been elected by the legisla-
ture for life and could be removed only by impeachment
or by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature,
were now to be elected by the people directly for fixed
terms, judges of the Supreme Court serving for nine
years and others for shorter terms. 3
Under the constitution of 1818, the legislature had Power of
been given large powers and almost complete freedom t^lfmit
in the use of them. The new constitution was full of
restrictions upon the power of the legislature. It was
forbidden to charter State banks, to make appropria-
tions in excess of revenue, to borrow more than $50,000,
unless authorized to do so by a special vote of the people,
or to lend the credit of the State for private enterprises. 4
These provisions show clearly how the mistakes of the
early legislatures had made the people suspicious of
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1848, Preamble and Schedule, 4,
10.
2 Ibid., Art. III. 37 ; Art. X. 5.
'Ibid., Art. IV. 12; Art V.; cf. with Constitution of 1818,
Schedule, 10, and Art. IV. 4, 5-
4 Constitution of Illinois, 1848, Art. III. 37, 38; Art. IV.
5, 22-24; Art. V. 10 ; Art. X. 3.
4O Government of Illinois
their representatives and disposed to tie their hands.
Probably the most honorable thing in these constitu-
tional restrictions was the determination shown to
guard the financial honor of the State. This was also
provided for by Article XV which established a special
annual tax of two mills on the dollar to be used exclu-
sively for the payment of the State debt.
Powers of The powers of the governor were not much changed,
he governor. exce p t ^at j^ was given, for the first time, an independ-
ent veto power, the old council of revision being abol-
ished. This was, however, a very weak veto, for a
majority in each of the houses could pass a bill after
the governor had rejected it. 1
Legal dis- An important part of the constitution of 1848 was its
crimination treatment of the colored people. Slavery was now. for
against the *
negro. the first time, absolutely prohibited in the State, but the
negro was not yet given the ordinary duties and privi-
leges of citizenship. He was not liable to militia ser-
vice or the payment of poll taxes and he could not vote.
The strong feeling against free negroes was best shown
by Article XIV of the constitution which required the
legislature to adopt at once laws which would prevent
the immigration of free negroes into the State and
would also prevent slaveholders from bringing in their
slaves, as Governor Coles had done, in order to set them
free. 2
Township The constitution of 1848 is also noteworthy because
it made possible a radical change in the system of local
government. The early settlers of the State coming
largely from the South had been accustomed to what is
called the county system, in which the county was the
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1848, Art. IV. 21.
'Ibid., Art. XIII. 16; Art. VI. i ; Art. VIII. 'i ; Art. IX.
i ; Art. XIV.
The Old Frontier State 41
unit of local government, without any township organ-
ization. 1 The new settlers from New York and New
England were, however, accustomed to some form of
township government and through their influence the
constitution now provided that the legislature should
pass a law authorizing the majority of the voters in any
county to adopt the township system. Under this sys-
tem the county board was to be made up of supervisors
representing the various towns. During the next few
years, the northern and central counties were generally
organized on this plan, which has sometimes been called
the county-township plan because it is a compromise be-
tween the Virginia and New England principles. 2
The new constitution was much longer and more constitu-
elaborate than that of 1818. There was, therefore, tional
amendments.
greater need for a comparatively simple way of cor-
recting mistakes which might be found by experience.
The new constitution made it somewhat easier to cor-
rect particular articles. One article at a time might be
amended, if the amendment, after being recommended
by two successive legislatures, the first time by a two-
thirds vote, should be ratified by the people at a general
election. 8
'The word town was used before 1848 in nearly the same
sense as the word -village to-day. Thus the town government of
Chicago in 1833 was what would now be called a village govern-
ment. See below, ch. 7.
* Constitution of Illinois, 1848, Art. VII. 6.
Ibid., Art XII.
CHAPTER III
THE NEW INDUSTRIAL STATE 1848-1901
16. REFERENCES
Secondary Authorities: Moses, Illinois Historical and Sta-
tistical, II. ; Davidson and Stuve, Complete History of Illinois;
Dresbach, Young People's History of Illinois; Anthony, Consti-
tutional History of Illinois, chs. 22-36 ; Lusk, Politics and Poli-
ticians of Illinois; Andreas, History of Chicago, 3 vols. ; county
and other local histories ; Smith, Liberty and Free Soil Parties
in the Northwest; Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, A His-
tory, and the numerous other lives of Lincoln ; Sheahan, Ste-
phen A. Douglas; see also lives or memoirs of other public men,
e. g., Wentworth, Palmer, Logan, Grant.
Sources : Lincoln, Works (ed. Nicolay and Hay) ; The Amer-
ican Annual Cyclopaedia, 1861-1903; General Assembly of Illi-
nois, Journals of the House and Senate, and Reports; The Laws
of the State of Illinois, 1849-1903 (session laws) ; Supreme Court
of Illinois, Reports; Constitutional Convention (1862), Pro-
ceedings; Constitutional Convention (1869-70), Proceedings
and Debates; Report of the Adjutant-General of Illinois, 1861-
66, 8 vols., esp. I. (For bibliography of State publications, see
Bowker, State Publications, Part II., 229-249) ; U. S. Census
Reports (1850-1900) ; Official Records of the Union and Confed-
erate Armies, Third Series, I., IV.
17. SECTIONAL CONTROVERSIES IN STATE AND NA-
TIONAL POLITICS. 1848-1870
The anti- During the next twenty years after the adoption of
slavery ^ secon j State constitution, the most prominent thing
movement.
in Illinois politics is the conflict of parties in the State
on great national issues of a sectional character, par-
ticularly those relating to slavery. During the early
42
The New Industrial State 43
years of Statehood, Illinois had been very conservative
on these questions. There had been radical anti-
slavery men and anti-slavery societies, but the general
sentiment of the State was against them. 1 This was
particularly true of the Democratic party. Already,
however, there were indications of a change. The
northern counties of the State grew much more rapidly
than the southern and these northern counties were rap-
idly being filled by settlers from New York and New
England who were strongly northern in their views
of the slavery question. The German immigrants who
were coming to Illinois in large numbers, had at first
supported the Democratic party, but they did not like
the pro-slavery and extreme States-rights views of the
Southern Democrats. When the Kansas-Nebraska bill
of 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise prohibiting
slavery in the old Louisiana Territory north of 36 30',
many of these German Democrats, together with other
moderate anti-slavery men, joined the radical abolition-
ists in forming the new Republican party, which held
its first State convention at Bloomington in i856. 2
During the next four years, the State was pretty Lincoln and
evenly divided between the two parties, the most in- D u las -
teresting single event being the great senatorial con-
test of 1858 between Stephen A. Douglas, the author
of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and Abraham Lincoln,
the Republican candidate. Douglas was able to keep
his place in the Senate of the United States, but the
election showed that Illinois was becoming more and
more northern in its political sympathies. These two
Illinois men became in 1860 the leaders of the two
1 See on this subject Smith, Liberty and Free Soil Parties in
the Northwest.
2 Cf. Koerner, Das Deutsche Element, ch. 13.
44
Government of Illinois
great political parties of the North. The presidential
election was hotly contested in this State, the northern
counties generally going for Lincoln and those of the
south for Douglas. Lincoln, however, gained many
votes in the central counties and so was able to carry
the State.
Though the State was divided on the question of
slavery and though many Illinois people believed that
the policy of the Republicans was unjust to the South,
few of them were ready to accept secession. When
in April, 1861, the southerners fired on Fort Sumter
and Lincoln issued his famous call for troops, the Illi-
nois Democrats generally followed their leader, Stephen
A. Douglas, in pledging their support to the Union.
During the Civil War, Illinois furnished to the Union
armies the equivalent of 214,133 men enlisted for three
years service, or about 238 three year enlistments for
every thousand of the male population in 1860. Nearly
35,000 of these men were killed or died of disease in
the service or died in southern prisons. 1
Though the State responded generously to the call
for volunteers and its governor, Richard Yates, was an
aggressive supporter of the national administration,
there was during the war much dissatisfaction, espe-
cially in southern Illinois, with the policies of President
Lincoln and his party. This feeling was first shown
clearly in the constitutional convention of 1862. The
people had voted in favor of this convention before the
outbreak of the war, and there was real need of con-
stitutional reforms. The convention, however, was
1 War Department, Official Records of the Union and Confed-
erate Armies, Third Series, IV. 1269; Report of Provost Mar-
shal General, 1866 (in House Ex. Doc. 3Qth Cong., ist sess.,
IV) ; Moses, Illinois Historical and Statistical II. 731.
The New Industrial State 45
controlled largely by Democrats from the southern
counties and much of its time was spent in discussing
the conduct of the State and national governments.
The Republicans believed also that the constitution
which was formed by the convention was largely in-
tended for the advantage of the Democratic party.
The constitution as a whole was defeated by a large
majority, but separate articles prohibiting the immi-
gration of free negroes and limiting the suffrage to
whites were carried. 1
Lincoln's emancipation proclamation of September, The
1862, was at first very unpopular in Illinois and in the l *^ rt of
next elections the Republicans were badly beaten. The
legislature of 1863 voted to ratify an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States providing that no
amendment should ever be made interfering with slav-
ery in the States, 2 and the House of Representatives
even passed resolutions calling for an armistice between
the Union and Confederate armies. This legislature
was finally prorogued or adjourned by Governor Yates.
Some of the members of this opposition party were
honest and patriotic men who were simply opposing
what they considered to be unwise or unconstitutional
measures of the Federal and State governments.
There was, nevertheless, some real disloyalty as was
shown, for example, in 1864 by what is known as the
"Camp Douglas Conspiracy" to set free Confederate
prisoners kept at Chicago.
1 Journal of the Convention ; Dickerson, The Illinois Consti-
tutional Convention of 1862 (Mss. thesis in library of the Uni-
versity of Illinois). The convention of 1862 is also notable be-
cause it claimed the right not only to frame a constitution, bat
to exercise all the powers of the State government.
"Public Laws, 1863, 41, 42.
4 6
Government of Illinois
Anti-slavery feeling was steadily growing, however.
In the presidential election of 1864, Illinois again gave
to the negro, its electoral votes to Lincoln. In 1865 the new legisla-
ture exactly reversed the policy of the last one and was
the first in the Union to ratify the "thirteenth amend-
ment," as we now know it, prohibiting slavery every-
where under the American flag. 1 The same legislature
of 1865 repealed the so-called "black laws" which had
refused the negro equal rights before the law. A little
later, Illinois ratified the fourteenth and fifteenth amend-
ments to the Federal Constitution which were particu-
larly intended to give full civil and political rights to
the negroes of the southern States. Thus Illinois ac-
cepted for itself and for the nation the principle of the
political and legal equality of the races. 2
18. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. 1848-1870
Growth of This period of sectional conflict was also a period of
population. ra pjd growth in population and wealth. The popula-
tion of the State in 1870 was about two and a half
millions, about three times that of 1850. Chicago grew
out of all proportion to the rest of the State. During
the war decade, Cook County increased at the rate of
about 140 per cent, as against less than 40 per cent, for
the rest of the State. About four-fifths of the people
of this county were either foreign born themselves or
the children of foreign fathers or mothers. 3
industrial The occupations and interests of these people had.
interests.
1 Documentary History of the Constitution, II. 523 ; cf. pp.
522ff.
2 Public Laws, 1865, 105, 135. Cf. Senate Journal, 319, 320;
House Journal, 470, 490; Documentary History of the Constitu-
tion, II. 690, 808.
8 Ninth Census, I., xvii., 23, no, 307, 308.
The New Industrial State 47
changed greatly since the frontier period. Then
farming had been almost their only occupation.
These farming interests continued to be very impor-
tant and by 1860, Illinois had become the first grain
producing State of the Union. Other interests,
however, had developed, giving the State a broader
industrial development. During the twenty years
from 1850 to 1870, Illinois rose from the sixteenth to
the sixth place among the States in the value of
manufactured products. 1
One of the most important factors in this develop- Railroads,
ment was the building of railroads. The first great
railroad enterprise which was successfully carried
out in this State was the building of the Illinois
Central. This was made possible by an act of Con-
gress in 1850 granting large tracts of land to the
States of Illinois, Mississippi, and Alabama, "in
aid of the construction of a railroad from Chicago to
Mobile." 2 In 1851, the State granted these lands to
the Illinois Central Railroad Company, for the build-
ing of railroads which should connect Cairo on the
south with Chicago and Galena on the north. By
one of the conditions of this grant, the Company is
still required to pay to the State not less than seven
per cent, of its "gross receipts." 3 During the next
five years, these lines were actually built. The rich
prairie lands of eastern and central Illinois were now
for the first time made easily accessible to settlers,
and something was done to break down the sectional
division between the northern and southern coun-
1 Ninth Census, III. 392, 451, 452, 458, 588.
* U. S. Statutes at Large, 3ist Cong., 1st sess., ch. 61.
3 Private Laws, 1851, 61-74.
48 Government of Illinois
ties. 1 In the year of the Illinois Central land grant
(1850), there were about one hundred miles of rail-
road in the State. During the next ten years, Illi-
nois did more railroad building than any other State
in the Union, and by 1870 had risen to the first place
among the States in the total number of miles of
railway. In the meantime water communication
with the east had been supplemented by through
railroad lines and the products of the State were
brought within more convenient reach of eastern
and European markets. 2
Public With material progress, there came also higher
ofigss 1 ^ standards of life. One of the best evidences of this
is the passage of the school law of 1855 upon which
our present school system is founded. This act pro-
vided for the first time a State tax for schools, gave
the various districts the right to tax themselves for
the same purpose, and provided also "for a free
school in every district for six months of the year."
The new law was, on the whole, very successful and
"the free school made its way rapidly to every part
of the State." 3
19. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1870
Constitu- The immense industrial development of the State
jonai brought with it new problems of government, par-
ticularly those resulting from the growth of great
1 Ackerman, Early Illinois Railroads (in Fergus Historical
Series, No. 23) ; Sanborn, Congressional Grants in Aid of Rail-
ways, ch. 2 ; Gerhard, Illinois As It Is, 406-408.
1 Poor, Railroad Manual, 1871-72, xxxiv. ; cf. Eighth Census,
Mortality and Miscellaneous Statistics, 331.
1 Pillsbury, Early Education in Illinois (in i6th Biennial
Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction}, CXC-
CXCIII. ; Public Laws, 1855, 51-91.
The New Industrial State 49
corporations. Many of them had secured from the
legislature special privileges of various kinds, often, it
was thought, without enough regard for the interests of
the people. There was particularly strong feeling
against the railroads which had received great privi-
leges from the State and Federal governments and
it was thought that they ought to be much more
liberal in their charges. Some attempt was made
to solve these problems through acts of the legisla-
ture, but it was generally agreed that the new con-
ditions called for a new constitution. 1
The question of calling a constitutional conven- Convention
tion had been submitted to the people in the election of l86 $>-7-
of 1868 and a majority voted in favor of the call.
The legislature then provided that the members of
the convention should begin their sessions at Spring-
field in December, i86o,. 2 The new convention was
smaller than that of 1847 and so was better fitted for
practical discussion. A considerable majority of the
members were lawyers, many of them of very high
standing. This fact taken together with the experi-
ence of half a century in State government resulted
in a new constitution much better than those which
had gone before. The convention finished its work
in May, 1870. The constitution which they had
formed was ratified by the people in July and went
into effect in August of the same year. 3
Probably the most important new provisions of Special
this constitution were those which had to do with
.
prohibited.
1 Governor Palmer's Message (in House Journal, 1869, 1. 202-
208) ; Public Laws, 1869, 308-312.
3 House Journal, 1869, I. 642-643 ; Public Laws, 1869, 97.
* Journal of the Convention of 1870; Kurd, Revised Statutes,
1903, 53-
4
Government of Illinois
Other con-
stitutional
limitations.
The courts.
Disappear-
ance of the
color line.
Public edu-
cation.
the treatment of private corporations. In order to
prevent the legislature from granting special privi-
leges which might be obtained by corrupt methods
and prove injurious to the public, the new constitu-
tion contained a very sweeping provision against
special laws, requiring that all such matters should
be regulated by general laws. New clauses were
also introduced requiring the legislature to regulate
railway rates. 1
The constitution contained other careful provis-
ions to protect the people against unwise or corrupt
representatives. Hereafter no bill could be passed
over the governor's veto without a two-thirds ma-
jority in each house of all the members elected. 2
Counties, cities, and other local governments were
limited in the amount of taxes they could raise or
the amount of money they could borrow. 3
The increasingly complicated needs of the State
were also shown by the development of the judicial
department. The legislature was given the right to
organize new appellate courts, standing between the
circuit courts and the supreme court. A special
judicial system was provided for the great popula-
tion and complicated business interests of Cook
County. In other respects also the peculiar charac-
ter of this county was recognized by special provis-
ions for its government. 4
There were two other things in the constitution
which show in a striking way the growth of public
1 Constitution of Illinois (1870), Art. IV. 22; Art. XI. (Cor-
porations) ; Art. XIII. (Warehouses).
3 Ibid., Art. V. 16.
'Ibid., Art. IX. 8, 12.
'Ibid., Art. VI., 11-20, 23-28; Art. X. 7.
The New Industrial State 51
opinion away from old ideas. One of these is the
complete disappearance of the color line. The right
to vote and the duty of militia service were recog-
nized as the same for blacks and whites. 1 The
other was the recognition for the first time in the
constitution that it was the duty of the State to
provide a "system of free schools, whereby all children
of this State may receive a good, common-school educa-
tion." 2
20. THE PEOPLE AND THEIR GOVERNMENT. 1870-1901
During the closing decades of the nineteenth Growth in
century, the population of Illinois was nearly dou- PP ulatlon -
bled, and in that respect it is now the third State in
the Union. This growth has been mainly in one
county. In 1870, Cook County had about one-sev-
enth of the population of the State ; in 1900, the
proportion was nearly two-fifths. In these thirty
years, the State outside of Cook County gained only
thirty-six per cent., but Chicago gained over five
hundred per cent. 3 Though Chicago is the only
great city in Illinois, city or town life has increased
throughout the State. In the year 1860, about one
person in every eight lived in a town of four thou-
sand or more people. By 1900, the ratio had in-
creased to more than one-half.* This tendency to
city life has had an important influence in the con-
1 Constitution of Illinois (1870), Art. VII. i ; Art. XII. i.
9 Ibid., Art. VIII. i.
8 Twelfth Census of the United States, I., xxii., 16. A part of
the increased population of Chicago was due to the annexation
of adjoining territory.
4 Ibid., I., Ixxxiv.-xc. Cf. The Eighth Census, Population,
88-101.
Government of Illinois
Influence of
foreign im-
migration.
Broader
industrial
develop-
ment
stitutional development of the State. It has made
the problems of municipal government infinitely
more important than they were before the Civil War
and it is making the task of passing general laws for
the State, which shall also fit the special needs of
Chicago, more and more difficult.
The foreign elements in this population have also
largely increased, until in 1900, more than one-half
the people of Illinois and more than three-fourths
of those in Chicago were either foreign born them-
selves or the children of foreign parents. The Ger-
mans and the Irish were at first the most important ;
then came a great wave of Scandinavian immigra-
tion ; and, in recent years, the Italians and the Slavs
have come in large numbers. 1 To a large extent,
these newcomers have, with the help of our public
school system, been trained in American political
ideas, but many who do not understand or appre-
ciate American institutions are easily influenced by
dangerous or corrupt political leaders. In many
ways, good or bad, the foreign population has in-
fluenced the law making of recent years. This in-
fluence has been felt particularly on such questions
as the proper regulation of the liquor business, and
the proper relation of church schools to our public
school system. In both these matters the foreign-
born voters have stood out strongly against what
they have considered undue State interference with
private business.
Even before 1870, it was clear that Illinois was no
longer a wholly agricultural State, though the cen-
sus of that year gave more people as engaged in
1 Twelfth Census of the United States, I., clxxxv., clxxxvii.,
cxciv.
The New Industrial State 53
agriculture than in all other occupations put to-
gether. 1 Since that time there has been a constantly
broadening industrial development. In 1900, the
three great branches of industry, "agriculture,"
"manufacturing and mechanical pursuits," and
"trade and transportation," stood on a nearly equal
footing as measured by the number of people en-
gaged in them. 2 Two great factors in this develop-
ment have been the building of six thousand miles
of railway, and the growth from very small begin-
nings in 1870 of the great coal mining industry. 3
All these things, taken together with the prosperity
of the whole northwest, have made Chicago one of
the chief financial centres of the country. In the
last year of the nineteenth century, the banking busi-
ness of Chicago was greater than that of Boston or
Philadelphia and second only to that of New York. 4
Great industrial changes like these cannot take Conflicts of
place without much friction, particularly between
labor and capital. Among these unfortunate con-
flicts, there are a few which stand out more promi-
nently than the rest. One of these is the great eight-
hour strike of 1886, ending in the so-called anarchist
riots. 5 The year 1894 is also especially to be remem-
bered, because of the coal mining strikes in central
Illinois and the great railroad strikes centering in
Chicago. In the last case, United States troops
were called out by President Cleveland, though
1 Ninth Census of the United States, I. '670-674.
2 Twelfth Census of the United States, II. 508-50(3
8 Poor, Railroad Manual, 1901 ; U.S. Statistical Abstract, 1900,
343-
* World Almanac, 1901, 187.
* Annual Cyclopaedia, 1886, 1887, 1893.
54 Government of Illinois
Governor Altgeld thought such interference by the
Federal government unnecessary and unjustifiable.
In several of these conflicts, the State militia has
been called out by the governor to protect persons
and property. 1
State con- These conflicts of labor and capital, taken to-
gether with the increasing power of the great in-
and in- dustrial combinations, have made it more and
dustry. more necessary for the general public to protect
itself by using the authority of the State. Some-
times this has been done by general rules of law.
Thus the State legislature has passed laws prohibit-
ing child labor and regulating railway rates, and it
has made some not very successful attempts to
prevent certain kinds of industrial combinations,
popularly known as "trusts." Sometimes executive
boards have been established by law in order to
supervise certain kinds of business and see that they
are properly conducted. In 1871, the Board of Rail-
road and Warehouse Commissioners was organized
which now has the power to fix maximum railway
rates. A State insurance department has been cre-
ated to supervise insurance companies and the State
Board of Factory Inspectors is expected to enforce
the laws regarding the employment of labor in fac-
tories. The State has also tried to prevent strikes
and lockouts, in some cases at least, by establishing
a State Board of Arbitration. 2 Thus the State gov-
ernment is constantly being given new work to do
and organizing new offices or departments for that
purpose. As population has increased and the in-
1 Annual Cyclopaedia, 1893, 1894; Message of Governor Alt-
geld in Reports to the General Assembly, 1894.
* See on this subject Part III., ch. 14.
The New Industrial State 55
terests of the people have grown broader and more
complex, they have been obliged to make more elab-
orate and complex the machinery of their govern-
ment.
PART II
THE MACHINERY OF STATE GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER IV
UNDERLYINa PRINCIPLES OF STATE GOVERNMENT
21. REFERENCES
Bryce, American Commonwealth, I. chs. 36-39, 44, 45 ; Hart,
Actual Government, Part I.; Wilson, The State, 1087-1115;
Cooley, The General Principles of Constitutional Law, ed. 1898,
ch. 18 ; Cooley, Constitutional Limitations, chs. 3, 4, 9-13 ; Black,
Handbook of American Constitutional Law, chs. 18, 19; Hitch-
cock, American State Constitutions; Patterson, The United
States and the States under the Constitution; Schouler, Consti-
tutional Studies, Part III. ; Borgeaud, Adoption and Amend-
ment of Constitutions, Part III., Book I. ; Jameson, A Treatise
on Constitutional Conventions; Thorpe, Constitutional History
of the American People; Oberholtzer, The Referendum in
America. Documents : Starr and Curtis, Annotated Statutes of
the State of Illinois (this gives the text of the constitution, with
foot notes citing important cases in constitutional law) ; cf.
Moore, An Index-Digest of the Illinois Reports, 2 vols.
22. THE FIELD OF STATE GOVERNMENT
state au- In the study of any government it is important to
ited'by lM understand clearly the foundation principles upon
the Federal which it rests, the fundamental laws to which all
lon- lesser laws must conform. For Illinois, as for every
other State of the Union, the Constitution of the
United States and all Federal laws and treaties made
in accordance with that Constitution are the "su-
56
Underlying Principles of State Government 57
preme law of the land;" and the judges are ''bound
thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any
State to the contrary notwithstanding." Thus the
people of Illinois are, strictly speaking, not sover-
eign. By this "supreme law" some of the most
important departments of government action are
taken from the State altogether and given to the
United States. This is particularly true in such
matters of general interest as our foreign policy and
the regulation of foreign and interstate commerce,
in which action by separate States would lead to
great confusion. The Constitution, however, goes
much farther than this and even in the general field
of action reserved to the States insists that they
shall observe certain general principles. Their gov-
ernment, for example, must be republican. They
must not establish any order of nobility. They may
charter corporations, but they can not, generally
speaking, compel them to give up privileges once
granted. One of the most important results of the
Civil War was to limit still farther the freedom of
the States in what were previously supposed to be
purely State affairs. Thus no State may permit
slavery within its limits, nor refuse the right to vote,
even in State elections, on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude. The Constitution
of the United States now determines what shall
make any person a citizen of a State, and to a con-
siderable extent, places his rights as such a citizen
under the protection of Federal law.
Though large powers within each State are thus importance
of the State.
given to the Federal government, yet those interests
of the people which are left in the care of the State
are more numerous and not less important. The State
58 Government of Illinois
government as a whole is not sovereign because it is
not independent, but in many departments it does ex-
ercise really sovereign power. It must be remembered,
too, that the people of a State, through the choice of
presidential electors and of senators and representa-
tives in Congress, have a part in the exercise of sov-
ereign authority, whether that authority is State or
Federal.
The adoption
constitution.
23. THE STATE CONSTITUTION
Next in authority to the Constitution and laws of
^ e United States is the constitution of the State.
This fundamental law was framed by a convention
chosen by the people for that purpose and had finally
to be submitted to them for their approval. In
some States, constitutions have been finally adopted
by conventions without being submitted to the peo-
ple, but in Illinois the present constitution expressly
forbids such action. 1 Thus the constitution is a
part of the law of the State, made directly by the
people themselves and so above any other law which
may be enacted by their representatives.
Constitu- The constitution may be amended in two ways.
tional 11111 .
conventions. The first may be called the convention method.
When two-thirds of the members of each house of
the general assembly agree that it is necessary to
revise the constitution, they may submit the ques-
tion to a vote of the people at the next general elec-
tion. If a majority of all those who vote in that
general election vote in favor of a convention, the
legislature must provide for it at its next meeting.
When the members of the convention have done
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1870, Art. XIV. i.
Underlying Principles of State Government 59
their work, they must submit their proposed consti-
tution or amendments to the voters of the State for
their approval at a special election called for that
purpose. This somewhat slow and difficult method
is intended to prevent hasty or partisan changes in
the constitution. 1
Where there is no strong demand on the part of Amend-
the people for a general revision, a simpler method ments P r -
posed by the
may be used. Amendments may be proposed in legislature,
either house of the general assembly and, if agreed
to by a two-thirds vote of all the members elected
in each house, they must be submitted to the people
at the next general election. A majority of all who
vote in that election must vote for the amendment.
Thus an amendment may be lost though more peo-
ple vote for it than vote against it. In order that
such amendments may not be forgotten by the voter,
the secretary of State is required to have published
a careful explanation of their provisions. 2 In the
first thirty years after the adoption of the constitu-
tion of 1870, five constitutional amendments have
been adopted. A number of others proposed by the
legislature were not ratified by the people. No
comprehensive changes can be made in this way
because amendments can not be proposed to more
than one article at the same time. 3
24. THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS
Though the people are the source of authority, Depart-
ments of
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1870, Art. XIV. i. government.
"Ibid., Art. XIV. 2; Kurd, Revised Statutes, ch. ;a.
3 An important amendment giving the legislature greater free-
dom in making laws for Chicago was agreed to by the legisla-
ture in 1903 and will be submitted to the voters in 1904. See
below p. 253.
60 Government of Illinois
the only power which can make and change consti-
tutions, the actual work of government must be
done by their chosen representatives. One of the
most important purposes of a constitution is, there-
fore, to organize the departments of the State and
to distribute among their officers the various powers
and duties of government. Following the example
of the Federal government and of the older States,
Illinois has provided for the distribution of consti-
tutional powers in three departments : the legisla-
tive, the executive, and the judicial. 1 Roughly
speaking, it is the duty of the legislative department
to make the laws, of the executive to see that they
are obeyed, and of the judiciary to interpret the law
and apply it to special cases. It is the purpose of
this distribution that these different departments
shall check each other and so prevent unwise or
dangerous action. Thus the governor can prevent
the passage of laws by the use of his veto power.
The judges may declare unconstitutional and there-
fore of no force the acts both of the executive and
the legislature. Finally, the legislature may im-
peach and remove from office the governor and
judges for misconduct in the performance of their
duties.
AH repre- Though these great departments are more or less
:nt the distinctly separated, they are not wholly so and they
do not generally represent different interests, as
they do, for example, in a strongly monarchical gov-
ernment where the higher executive officers and the
judges derive their authority from the king, where
there is an upper house to represent the nobility and
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1870, esp. Art. III.
Underlying Principles of State Government 61
only the lower house represents the people. In
Illinois, the higher officers in each one of the great
departments are chosen directly by the people and
are supposed to represent their interests.
Cutting across these dividing lines which separate Central and
the legislative, executive, and judicial departments local gov '
of the State, there are what we may call latitudinal
lines, which mark off the field of the central govern-
ment from those of the local governments. The
constitution provides for county, town, city and
other local governments, partly to meet the local
needs of each of these districts and partly to help
the State in its work. Their field of authority is
not always clearly marked out by the constitution;
but they are in all things distinctly subordinate to
the State government, and their jurisdiction is
largely determined for them by the legislature. Yet
they have some legal rights which not even the
legislature can take away. Thus, the legislature
can not give the right to build a street railway in
any city or town without the consent of the local
government. 1
25. RESERVED RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE
This distribution of political powers among dif- BUI of
ferent sets of officers has sometimes been called a
system of "checks and balances," in which every
officer or department is checked in the exercise of
his power by the natural jealousy of some other
department or officer. But not even to all of these
officers taken together have the people given unre-
stricted power. To protect the rights of individuals
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1870, Art. XI. 4.
62 Government of Illinois
against the possible tyranny of their own represent-
atives, even in the law-making body, they have
placed in the constitution what is sometimes known
as a "bill of rights." Many of these rights were
recognized by the first colonists in America as a
part of their old English inheritance. Others were
either recognized for the first time or more clearly
stated as a result of early American experience.
With generally unimportant differences, they are
to-day set forth in the constitution of every Amer-
ican State.
Rights of The most important of these rights are those
which protect the personal liberty of the individual,
his rights of property, his freedom in religious
opinion and worship, and his liberty of speech and
publication. To secure the personal liberty of the
individual, it is provided that he shall not be deprived
of life or liberty without due process of law, and
the right of trial by jury is guaranteed. Private
property also may not be taken except by due pro-
cess of law, and when needed for public uses it must
be paid for. Every man is guaranteed liberty of
conscience and public worship. No one may be
compelled to support any church and no preference
can be given by law to any religious denomination.
To protect free discussion of all public questions, it
is provided that "every person may freely speak,
write and publish on all subjects," though he is
"responsible for the abuse of that liberty" and may
be punished for libel. 1 Thus the old safeguards
which protected subjects against arbitrary kings are
1 Constitution of Illinois, 1870, Art. II.
Underlying Principles of State Government 63
still considered necessary even in a government of
the people by the people.
Besides securing each individual in these personal other con
and property rights, the constitution contains, as we * tltutl nal
* limitations
shall see later, a number of provisions intended to
protect the interests of the people as a whole against
unwise or corrupt legislation by their chosen repre-
sentatives. Certain general principles are laid down
to which all future laws must conform, and even in
some cases where no constitutional amendment is
necessary, the legislature is required to submit its
measures to the people for their approval. 1
Thus, within the sphere of government left to the The people
State, the people are the supreme power. They
have made the constitution and they alone can
change it. They have given large powers to their
officers or agents, but these powers, large as they
are, are jealously guarded to protect the rights of
individual citizens and those of the people as a
whole.
1 Under a recent act of the legislature, the voters of the State
may express their opinion on public questions by means of what
is called the "little ballot." This opinion has no legal force, but
it may influence somewhat the action of the legislature. Three
such questions were voted upon in the general elections of 1902.
CHAPTER V
ELECTIONS
Meaning of
the term,
people.
Qualifica-
tions of
voters.
26. REFERENCES
Bryce, American Commonwealth, I., ch. 46; II., Part III.;
Hart, Actual Government, Part II. ; Hinsdale, American Gov-
ernment, ch. 54; Cooley, Constitutional Limitati 
