Constitution of Illinois

The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constitution of Illinois of 1970" or less formally as the "1970 Constitition." The document is still referred to as the "Constitution of Illinois of 1970" even though there have been amendments to it after 1970.

When statehood for Illinois was approved on April 18, 1818, the U.S. Congress approved the formation of a state constitution. An election for delegates to a state constitutional convention was scheduled for July 6, 1818. All white male U.S. citizens who had resided in the Illinois Territory for at least six months prior to the election, or whom were otherwise qualified to vote for representation, were permitted to vote. The main topics of the election were whether it was sensible to have a constitution at that time and, if so, whether to form it and how to select appropriate representatives to frame it. Madison, St. Clair, and Gallatin counties were allocated three delegates each, while all other counties were allocated two delegates each.

Delegates elected were to attend a meeting at Kaskaskia on August 3. Any record of this election has been lost and it is uncertain where the subsequent meeting was held. However, John Reynolds later noted that the meeting was largely peaceful although there were questions about how to handle slavery. Delegation members were:
Bond County

Madison County

St. Clair County

Washington County

Monroe County

Randolph County

Jackson County

Johnson County

Union County

Pope County

Franklin County

Galltin County

White County

Edwards County

Crawford County

Jesse B. Thomas was chosen president pro tempore while T. V. W. Varick was named secretary pro tempore and Ezra Owens was named doorkeeper. Thomas was later elevated to the full presidency, William C. Greenup was named secretary, and Ezra Owen was restyled sergeant-at-arms. On August 4, Elias Kane was tasked with forming a committee to estimate the population of the territory; they found it to be 40,258, although this number seems to be exaggerated. A committee was then formed of fifteen, one from each county, to frame and report a constitution. The convention met again on the 6th and approved the draft submitted by the committee. Robert Blackwell and Elijah C. Berry of the Illinois Intelligencer were given the responsibility of printing the document. John K. Mangham died on August 11. From the 13th through the 15th, the constitution was read aloud and minor changes were made. It was re-read on the 17th; to this point, there was little debate.

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