Constitution of Louisiana

The Louisiana Constitution is legally named the Constitution of the State of Louisiana and commonly called the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and the Constitution of 1974. The constitution is the cornerstone of the law of Louisiana ensuring the rights of individuals, describing the distribution and power of state officials and local government, establishes the state and city civil service systems, creates and defines the operation of a state lottery, and the manner of revising the constitution.

Louisiana's constitution was adopted (adopted in Convention) during the Constitutional Convention in 1974, ratified by the voters of the state on April 20, 1974, and became effective on January 1, 1975.

The beginning of statehood for Louisiana began with the Louisiana purchase in 1803. In 1804, the land the United States purchased from France was divided in two territories: 1) the Louisiana Territory (upper territory) and 2) the area below the 33rd parallel (current Louisiana-Arkansas state line), the Orleans Territory each as an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Territory of Orleans formed the bulk of what today is the State of Louisiana. From the beginning there were border disputes. In 1795, the Treaty of Friendship, Limits, and Navigation Between Spain and the United States, known as Pinckney's Treaty, had set the stage for long non-violent negotiations. An area between the Mississippi River and Perdido River (excluding New Orleans) was claimed by Spain as part of the West Florida Controversy. Also at issue was the area that became known as the neutral ground on the western border, meaning the territory had undefined borders. These disputes led to an end to diplomatic relations in 1805. Plantation owners proclaimed independence from Spain, establishing the short lived nation of the Republic of West Florida on Sept. 23, 1810, but President James Madison ordered U.S. forces into the area and incorporated it into the Orleans territory.

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